[Strategy Page] The Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces in June has been successful, but slow. Russia knew it was eventually coming and built extensive fortifications, including obstacles to vehicle movement as well as planting lots of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. The anti-tank mines are frequently used because they are so effective. The mines themselves do not destroy tanks and other vehicles but inflict "mobility kills" by rendering the mine-damaged vehicles unable to move because of damaged tracks and/or tires/track wheels and suspension system. If this happens during combat, the vehicles and their crews are in big trouble. That often means the crew abandons the vehicle and seeks shelter elsewhere. Historically, most tank and armored fighting vehicle (AFV) losses come from mobility kills. The Ukraine War was unique because top attack ATGMs (anti-tank guided missiles) were able to destroy Russian-designed tanks and AFVs by causing the turret to explode and kill the entire crew. Now the Ukrainians are on the offensive and have to devote a lot of men and resources to removing anti-tank and anti-personnel mines. At the same time the Ukrainians use anti-tank mines to protect quiet sectors of the front line from surprise armored attacks.
The tracks on tanks are also vulnerable to accidental damage if the driver tries to cross an obstacle that can damage the tracks, often by just causing tracks to be separated from their supporting road wheels. When this happens, the crew has to get out and go through a time-consuming and strenuous effort to get the tracks back on. Track systems suffering battle damage can sometimes be repaired in the field if there is no damage to the wheels the tracks run on. Tank drivers are important members of the crew because they have to be alert and know what they are doing whenever the tank is moving. When not in combat, the tank commander will often stick his head and shoulders out of the turret and use his better view of the way ahead to warn the driver when an avoidable obstacle is spotted. .
A lot of different anti-tank weapons have been developed over the last century but none have been so successful as anti-tank mines, Anti-tank guns and missiles can be defeated with better armor or the more recent APS (Active Protection System). For example, in 2021 Germany successfully completed acceptance tests of the Israeli Trophy APS they wanted to purchase for their Leopard 2 tanks. The acceptance tests consisted of firing ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missiles), RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and shells from tank guns or artillery that often fire such shells equipped with shaped charge warheads at tanks, at a Trophy-equipped Leopard 2.
This was not the first Leopard 2 to use an APS. Turkish Leopard 2 and M60 tanks were equipped with the Ukrainian Zaslon APS in 2018 and were successful enough for Turkey to obtain a manufacturing license to build Zaslon. Several other countries have ordered Zaslon because it is one of the few APS systems that proved itself in combat. Zaslon is more flexible to install as it uses individual modules and can be used on tanks equipped with ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor). On the downside, Zaslon will injure nearby infantry, which is a major problem for many nations. Zaslon has been in service for as long as Trophy and worked against Russian weapons in 2015, but saw little exposure to combat after that until the Turks noticed it.
Russia has used a lot of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines in Ukraine and the Ukrainian forces have been supplied with equipment and training to find and destroy or disable them. Russia has deployed thousands of these mines in southeast Ukraine to disrupt a Ukrainian offensive. Russia has mapped these minefields in case they are no longer needed and the mines can be removed. If Russia is defeated, those minefield maps are unlikely to be given to the Ukrainians and the mines will be a public hazard for years to come. Ukraine will have to maintain mine-clearing teams and await reports from local civilians about minefield discoveries. Russia and Ukraine have both been using anti-tank mines against each other since 2015.
The American M1 and German Leopard 2 have improved but are still vulnerable track-laying systems. So do large militarized commercial bulldozers used by army engineer units to clear visible obstacles as well as detect and destroy anti-tank mines.