Drones have not killed tank: Ukrainian analyst says Operation Vivaldi shows NATO how to make armor work again
NATO war games convinced some that drones have made the tank obsolete, but Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi shows armor still works.
Ukrainian analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko argues that NATO should not abandon armored warfare, but rather rethink how it is conducted. His argument is based on Operation Vivaldi, the Third Army Corps' counteroffensive near Lyman, which he says proves tanks still have a place on the battlefield. Vivaldi aimed to disrupt Russian forces' plans to encircle the fortress-belt cities in Donetsk Oblast, helping to hold back Russian forces since 2014.
Kovalenko's claim contradicts the view that massed armor is finished, with drone teams proving it obsolete. NATO's recent exercises, including Estonia's Hedgehog and Sweden's Aurora 26, have reinforced this belief, with Ukrainian drone teams outperforming Alliance armor. Kovalenko points to two drills as examples of NATO's mistakes.
At Estonia's Hedgehog exercises, Ukrainian FPV-drone units outmaneuvered NATO troops, while in Sweden's Aurora 26 exercises, NATO units lost control of the island. Kovalenko believes these results led many to conclude that the Alliance's large armor forces have lost relevance in modern warfare. Operation Vivaldi demonstrates what NATO can learn from Ukraine's armored tactics.
The Third Army Corps carried out two mechanized assaults that pushed into the Russian rear, using reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and dedicated work against enemy strike systems. Vivaldi showed that armor can still move on a battlefield dominated by drones, loitering munitions, and precision weapons. The corps' commander, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, emphasized that maneuver by armor remains possible against a heavily outnumbered enemy.
Kovalenko warns that NATO's reliance on Cold War attack and defense templates could lead to their downfall in a real battlefield.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
