Is a flamethrower a practical weapon these days?
- Thread starter mrhappyface
- Start date
The point of a flamethrower is to clear the enemy out of a prepared position that is dificult to destroy with conventional means. The liquid fuel can be easly splashed into bunkers through small embrassures, and the fire quickly consumes all the oxygen inside. The troops inside than face the choice of suffocation and burning inside or bullets/capture outside. The main drawback of the handheld flamethrower would be the low amount of fuel and propellant you can carry: usually only enough for 10-20 seconds.
Using the flamethrower is also a large occupational hazard. You are a priority target for incoming fire, you stand a good chance of burns from splashback, and you face summary execution upon capture.
A bullet hitting the back pack would simply cause the fuel to leak. Even a tracer would be unlikely to start a fire. If the bullet rupured the propelant gas bottle, then you might get blasted forwards to the ground.
Ultimatly, a very specialised weapon that would be well at home in urban combat. At range though, you'd be better off with a thermobaric rocket.
Using the flamethrower is also a large occupational hazard. You are a priority target for incoming fire, you stand a good chance of burns from splashback, and you face summary execution upon capture.
A bullet hitting the back pack would simply cause the fuel to leak. Even a tracer would be unlikely to start a fire. If the bullet rupured the propelant gas bottle, then you might get blasted forwards to the ground.
Ultimatly, a very specialised weapon that would be well at home in urban combat. At range though, you'd be better off with a thermobaric rocket.
Flamethrowers are almost useless in a modern warfare sense. The uses of a flamethrower have been taken over by other weapons.
For clearing buildings in close combat. Grenades. Plus they are a lot lighter and you can give lots of people them. Plus they can be thrown around corners, and then you can hide, while a flamethrower requires full exposure. Add to this fully automatic weaponry with the ability to shoot through most indoor cover, and the average soldier is almost equivalent to a flamethrower trooper.
Secondly, fire is very hard to control. This makes them extremely hard to use in jungles, and urban areas. The chances of the fire spreading in your direction are very high.
Thirdly, in terms of flame based weaponry, conventional fire weapons have been replaced almost entirely. Napalm earlier, and now white phosphorous. It is similar to mustard gas. White phosphorous has an added benefit that it can also be used as a smokescreen depending on the amount released. (If you misjudge, then awe well. At least nobody important was killed. This is the attitude used by the US army in Iraq.)
For clearing buildings in close combat. Grenades. Plus they are a lot lighter and you can give lots of people them. Plus they can be thrown around corners, and then you can hide, while a flamethrower requires full exposure. Add to this fully automatic weaponry with the ability to shoot through most indoor cover, and the average soldier is almost equivalent to a flamethrower trooper.
Secondly, fire is very hard to control. This makes them extremely hard to use in jungles, and urban areas. The chances of the fire spreading in your direction are very high.
Thirdly, in terms of flame based weaponry, conventional fire weapons have been replaced almost entirely. Napalm earlier, and now white phosphorous. It is similar to mustard gas. White phosphorous has an added benefit that it can also be used as a smokescreen depending on the amount released. (If you misjudge, then awe well. At least nobody important was killed. This is the attitude used by the US army in Iraq.)
Obviously anyone who takes one someone with weapon that has a 15 to 20 meter range who has a gun that can place a bullet in the center of a bulls eye from 1000m away would have to have multiple blood clots in his brain.
Very usefull against certain bunkers/entrenchements.
And having it will make your enemies morale plummet!
And having it will make your enemies morale plummet!
Flamethrowers did over 20 metres, or say 22 yards easily mate... in WW2!MaxMees said:
"Contemporary flamethrowers can incinerate a target some 50?80 meters (165?270 feet) from the gunner; moreover, an unignited stream of flammable liquid can be fired and afterwards ignited, possibly by a lamp or other flame inside the bunker."
In the zombie apocalypes they would be uesful, strap a lighter to can of air freshener and you have a highy efective incendiary weapon capable of redusing the undead to little piles of ash and leaving the air smelling of pine (also avalible in citus breeze)
