Ukraine employs Polish Krab and RAAM mines to halt Russian advance

The victim of the Krab, or several Krabs serving in the Ukrainian 40th Artillery Brigade, was a Russian tank and an infantry fighting vehicle, and the attack in which these vehicles participated was stopped. As shown in the videos shared by Ukraine, the Russian column was detected by a drone and then fired upon with RAAM ammunition.

RAAM (Remote Anti-Armor Mine) projectiles were developed in the late 1970s and launched by 155 mm artillery systems such as the AHS Krab, PzH 2000, FH77BW Archer, or the towed M777 howitzer.

Each projectile contains nine anti-tank mines (there is also an ADAM version - Artillery Delivered Antipersonnel Mine – containing anti-personnel mines).

Ukraine has received at least 10,200 M718 or M741 projectiles from the United States. In terms of how they work, they resemble cluster munitions, but their charge – after being dispersed over the designated area – does not explode immediately but creates a minefield, reacting to the magnetic signature of nearby passing vehicles.

This allows for remote mining of an area nearly 18 kilometres away. The mines from RAAM projectiles contain a self-destruct mechanism, which after a certain time (48 hours or less) leads to their self-destruction to minimise danger to civilians.

Each of the RAAM system mines weighs around 2.3 kilograms, about half of that being the explosive charge. That's not enough to destroy a tank irreparably, but sufficient to tear off the tracks or otherwise damage the driving system, immobilising the vehicle.

In combination with modern reconnaissance means—such as drones—this solution allows for the quick, remote creation of mine barriers exactly on the path of the opponent's vehicles. As the Ukrainian recording shows, this enables the stopping of one's advance many kilometres away from one's own troops.