LPO-50
LPO-50 | |
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Type | Flamethrower |
Place of origin | USSR |
Service history | |
Wars | Vietnam War The Troubles Sino-Vietnamese War Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) Iran-Iraq War Xinjiang conflict |
Production history | |
Designed | 1953 |
Specifications | |
Mass | 3.2 kg (Flame gun) 15 kg (Empty) 23 kg (Full). |
Length | 968mm (Flame gun) |
Cartridge | 3 (Tank Capacity: 3,4L (Total: 10.2L)) |
Caliber | 3 x 14.5mm nozzles |
Action | Electrically-triggered pyrotechnic cartridges, used 4×1.5 volt batteries |
Rate of fire | 3 shots (2-3 seconds each) |
Effective firing range | 40m-50m (Direct Fire) |
Maximum firing range | 70m |
The LPO-50 (Lyogkiy Pyekhotnyy Ognyemyot (Легкий Пехотный Огнемет), "Light Infantry Flamethrower") is a Soviet flamethrower.
Developed in 1953 to replace the ROKS-2/3 flamethrowers used during World War Two,[1] it was kept in the inventory well into the 1980s. This model was designed as a lightweight, manpack flamethrower with three upright cylinders and a bipod-mounted flame gun.[2] It differed from Western flamethrowers in that it used special ignition cartridges to expel the thickened fuel mixture rather than an inert gas. During the 1960s, the weapon was manufactured by the People's Republic of China. It was replaced in Soviet service by the RPO "Rys" and RPO-A Shmel incendiary rocket launchers in the 1980s.
The LPO saw service in the Vietnam War. Viet Cong forces were reported to have used the flamethrower at the 1967 Đắk Sơn massacre. At least one was used in an attack on the USMC base at Con Thien (also in 1967),[3] and there were several captured ones on display in Saigon in 1972.[4]
The United States Congress in 2011 cites an Irish Times article, reporting that the Irish Republican Army had an estimated 6 units of this model of flamethrower (prior to 2001).[5] A LPO-50 was used in an attack on a British army checkpoint in 1989.
Users
China: Type 74 copy still in use[6][7]
East Germany[8]
Iraq[9]
Provisional Irish Republican Army[10]
Syria[11]
Soviet Union
Vietnam[3]
References
- ^ РУКОВОДСТВО ПО ЛЕГКОМУ ПЕХОТНОМУ ОГНЕМЕТЫ ЛПО-50. Moscow: USSR Ministry of Defense. 1957.
- ^ "The LPO-50 Flamethrower". Sword of the Motherland Foundation. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ^ a b manhhai (2011-12-19), Quang Tri 1967 (15) - Captured Viet Cong Weapons, retrieved 2018-12-19
- ^ manhhai (2015-10-03), SAIGON 1972 - Triển lãm vũ khí cộng sản bị tịch thu, retrieved 2018-12-19
- ^ US Congress (Jul 28, 2011). Congressional Record. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 1404. ISBN 9780160924286.
- ^ "Type 74 Flamethrower still in Active Use, Chinese PLA Police Scorch some O2 -". The Firearm Blog. 2018-07-02. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
- ^ Chen, Andrea (23 November 2015). "Flamethrower used to flush out militants in China's Xinjiang region, says state media". SCMP. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
- ^ "Raketen- und Waffentechnischer Dienst (RWD) - Leichter Flammenwerfer LPO 50". www.rwd-mb3.de. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ "Iran-Irakkriget i bilder". Militarhistoria.se (in Swedish). 2020-05-16. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ Boyne, Sean (1 August 1996). "Inside The Ira - Weapons & Technology". Frontline. PBS. Jane's Intelligence Review. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ Jet flamethrowers burning alive are in China, North Korea and fought in Syria