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The Russian RPO-A "Bumblebee" portable flamethrower system has been spotted in Syria. The bazooka-like weapon, which uses overpressure and heat to kill, was spotted by a Russian defense blog last month being carried by a Syrian Army soldier.

First adopted by the Russian military in 2003, the Bumblebee is a single-shot rocket launcher along the lines of the American LAW or AT4. Once used, the launcher is thrown away. 

Despite the cute nickname, the Bumblebee is anything but. Classified as a flamethrower by the Russian military, the Bumblebee is actually a thermobaric weapon. The warhead uses a combination of an explosive charge and highly combustible fuel. When the rocket reaches the target, the fuel is dispersed in a cloud that is then detonated by the explosive charge.

The resulting explosion is devastating, radiating a shockwave and fireball up to six or seven meters in diameter. A thermobaric explosion is useful against troops in the open but especially useful against troops in bunkers, trenches, and even armored vehicles, as the dispersing gas can enter small spaces and allow the fireball to expand inside. 

The Russian defense blog BMP-D noticed a RPO-A rocket on the back of a Syrian army soldier on SANA news video. 

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Thermobarics are particularly devastating to buildings—a thermobaric round entering a structure can literally blow up the building from within with overpressure. During the 2005 Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, a U.S. Marine Corps Shoulder-Mounted Assault Weapon (SMAW) with a thermobaric warhead (similar to the Bumblebee) "disintegrated a large one-story masonry-type building with one round from 100 meters."

The Bumblebee's appearance in Syria is no surprise—its ability to devastate enemy forces in urban environments makes it an appealing weapon for urban warfare. Although heavy at 26 pounds, it has a simple sighting system that is easy to train soldiers to use and has a maximum range of 800 yards. 

Here's a video of the RPO-A Bumblebee being practice fired by Russian Army troops:

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Kyle Mizokami

Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News, and others. He lives in San Francisco.