Thread by @LivFaustDieJung

For context here, these defensive lines are littered with AT mines in advance of the dragons teeth with shallow trenches that stop wheeled vehicles. Obstacle belts are not impenetrable defenses nor are they meant to be. They offer staggered obstacles that must be cleared one by

https://twitter.com/LivFaustDieJung/status/1661705728212492290

one. This diagram is a good example that typifies a lot of these lines. Before and after the anti tank (probably should be called anti-vehicle, narrower trenches can be crossed by tanks)ditch will be AT mines covering the width. So your breaching force needs to first clear a hole

through the mines. Mind you this is a very narrow hole that all follow on vehicles must follow. And if this is being watched by drones the enemy now knows the only path you can cross & makes that area a priority artillery/mortar/guided munitions target. So you have this narrow

path through which only tracked vehicles that can bridge the first ditch can get across until bridging assets are placed (all while under fire). Now the far side of the anti-tank ditch must be cleared of mines, again, a very narrow lane (which must be done super speedily). Now

tracked & wheeled vehicles can cross (in a super well defined targeting area for the enemy) but the dragons teeth must also be cleared. And owing to the continuous issue with mines, tanks/breaching vehicles can't just full speed ahead & pray their momentum overcomes the dragons

teeth. Some of them will get knocked out in the process, some will face issues displacing dragons teeth/get stuck. Invariably a portion will reach them & breach them, and hope to God the other side is not yet another mine belt. At this point your actual breach force, the tanks,

IFVs, HMMWVs etc etc can push through & begin assaulting the defended trenches (or treelines) and hope they're minimally defended/enough of the assault force survived to get there. But your follow on forces are still having to stream through these narrow channels to slowly get

enough forces through the gap. Hopefully you've made multiple successful beaches so any one effort failing or stalling doesn't ruin your push. All the while you hopefully have reserve engineering forces to widen the breaches: for follow on forces, to evacuate casualties, or in

case an effort fails, that you can safely exit without getting trapped.

Ukraine knows all of this. Ukraine's allies know all of this. Ukraine is getting equipment to help deal with this. But even for highly funded modern militaries who train extensively on just this type of

operation, conducting a breach of extensive prepared defensive obstacles against an enemy you can only do so much to degrade before the push (especially without broadcasting where exactly you're going to attack) is one of the most dangerous offensive actions you can take. My

point with all this is not "Ukraine can't do this". They can. They have proven time & time again they're up to offensive action. My point is, like everything else, these obstacle belts are incredibly dangerous, will eat up a lot of Ukrainian lives & equipment, & it's unwise to

laugh them away like they're not a very deadly impediment to Ukraine expelling the Russian attackers. Even a lackluster defense of prepares obstacles can completely shut it down if things don't go perfectly. You clear a lane two vehicles wide and then two vehicles hit a landmine

your lane is not useless & needs to be cleared of those wrecks, or a new lane made. Russia correctly interprets imagery from thousands of drones along the FLOT and guesses where the breach will be/assigns enough artillery assets there. An overnight heavy rain makes wheeled vics

impossible to use, etc etc etc. But make no mistake, the dozens of videos we've seen of Ukraine training to breach extensive obstacle belts means they sure as fuck aren't laughing off dragons teeth or vehicle ditches. Nor should you.

I do want to reiterate because I think this is missed in a lot of these conversations: the entire time this is happening you are under Fire. Given the flat terrain of Ukraine in most places that likely means every weapon the enemy has is firing at you. This is unbelievably hard.

Tagging an armor officer who would have experience training and executing breaches of prepared defenses. @MarkHertling