Iraq According to Baghdad operation command, TOS-1A targeted an IS gathering north of Taji – Baghdad-Samara road. TOS-1 was the Soviet army’s secret hammer during the last decade of the Cold War. It fires powerful rockets to smash enemy trenches, fortifications and buildings, cracking defensive lines to allow tanks and infantry to punch through.

The Soviets deployed TOS-1 for the first time in Afghanistan in 1989, a full decade before publicly unveiling the rocket launcher. In 2009, the Russian rolled out TOS-1s for counterinsurgency drills and officially offered to export the rocket launcher as a means of defeating rebels and militants.

TOS-1A is the upgraded version—and arguably the most destructive artillery piece in the world. TOS-1A includes a T-72 tank chassis, allowing it roll right through enemy gunfire in order to get close enough to attack. The launchers fires 24 220-millimeter rockets, each with a 100-kilogram thermobaric warhead.

A single TOS-1 rocket is more powerful than a conventional 1,000-pound explosive munition.