一场大规模的乌克兰收复领土行动表明，在无人机密集的战争中，坦克和装甲车辆的突击仍然可行，但现在需要更多的支援和规划才能实施。在无人机、地雷和炮火主导的战场上，坦克和其他装甲车辆面临严峻挑战，促使双方在战术上都远离大规模机械化突击。这些决定让观察家们质疑坦克在现代战争中是否仍有作用。随着近期乌克兰的战斗行动，这些讨论出现了新的转折。
A massive Ukrainian operation retaking territory from Russian forces has shown that assaults with tanks and armored vehicles are still possible in a drone-heavy war, but far more support and planning are now necessary to execute them. Tanks and other armored vehicles have faced serious challenges on battlefields dominated by drones, mines, and artillery, prompting both sides to move away, tactically speaking, from large-scale mechanized assaults. Those decisions have led observers to question whether tanks still have a role in modern warfare. Those discussions have taken a new turn in the wake of recent Ukrainian combat operations.
指挥该行动的乌克兰第三军军团司令、准将安德烈·比列茨基告诉乌克兰媒体《军事评论》，参与“维瓦尔第行动”的乌克兰部队——这场反攻迄今已收复277平方公里领土——本周在俄军防线后方实施了两次成功的机械化突击。美国智库战争研究所创新总监乔治·巴罗斯告诉《商业内幕》，这似乎是“无人机主导战场上首次成功的机械化战术级突破”。
Ukrainian forces involved in Operation Vivaldi, a counteroffensive that has so far taken back 277 square kilometers of territory, carried out two successful mechanized assaults behind Russian lines this week, Brigadier General Andrii Biletskyi, the commander of Ukraine's Third Army Corps, the unit conducting the operation, told the Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi. George Barros, the director of innovation at the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, told Business Insider that this appears to be "the first successful mechanized tactical level breakthrough in a drone-dominated battlefield."
比列茨基在分享行动细节时表示，他曾怀疑这能否做到，直到最后一刻仍不确定装甲车辆能否成功使用，但他决定允许旅指挥官尝试。这些突击需要大量的准备和协调。“如今，装甲车辆的使用实际上是一项特种行动。它需要极其详细的规划和海量资产的协调，”比列茨基告诉乌克兰军事新闻网站《军事评论》。巴罗斯表示，虽然此次突击的领土收获有限，但他相信这是迄今为止在战区和军事科学领域观察到的最具深远意义和最有意义的攻势。“这真是件大事，”他说。
Sharing details of the operation, Biletskyi said he had been skeptical it could be done, remaining unsure until the last minute whether armored vehicles could be used successfully, but he decided to allow brigade commanders to try. The assaults required extensive preparation and coordination. "Today, the use of armored vehicles is effectively a special operation. It requires extremely detailed planning and the coordination of a huge number of assets," Biletskyi told Militarnyi, a Ukrainian military news site. Barros said that while the assault's territorial gains were limited, he believes it is the most consequential and meaningful offensive in theater and in military science observed so far. "It's a really big deal," he said.
“这有力地证明了，在无人机主导的战场上，在战术层面实现机械化机动是可能的。”任务规划涉及车辆乘员与步兵的分开训练、为车辆加装额外装备，以及为掩护推进提供大量支援。比列茨基未说明所用装备，但电子战设备、额外装甲、支援无人机和机器人均属于可帮助保护突击部队的工具。“这里的重大教训是，坦克并未消亡，坦克也未过时，”巴罗斯说，“而是让坦克发挥作用的前提条件变得冗长、繁杂且极难实现，但同样对战场成功至关重要且关键。”挑战在于复制这种成功。
"It decisively proves that it is possible to achieve mechanized maneuver at the tactical level in a drone-dominated battlefield." The mission planning involved separate training for vehicle crews and infantry, fitting vehicles with additional equipment, and extensive support to shield the advance. Biletskyi did not specify the equipment used, but electronic warfare, additional armor, and supporting drones and robots are among the kinds of tools that can help protect assault forces. "The big lesson here is that the tank isn't dead, and the tank isn't obsolete," Barros said, "but rather the prerequisites to make the tank useful have become lengthy and extensive and very difficult to achieve, but all the same important and critical for success on the battlefield." The challenge is replicating that success.
此类突击需要的资源和准备时间，超出部分部队能合理投入该任务的范围。巴罗斯指出，极少有乌克兰部队像第三军团——维瓦尔迪的主力部队——那样训练有素、装备精良。但如果乌克兰成功将这些经验和战术推广至武装力量的其他单元，“那么我们将拥有一支极其强大、能够将俄军推回去的乌克兰军队，而俄军在实施此类机动方面可能仍落后乌军数年，”他说。
Such assaults require more resources and preparation time than some units can reasonably dedicate to the mission. Barros noted that very few Ukrainian units are as well trained and well equipped as the Third Army Corps, Vivaldi's lead unit. But if Ukraine is successful in proliferating these lessons and tactics into other elements of its armed forces, "then we will have a Ukrainian military that is extremely capable and able to roll back the Russians, whereas the Russians still lag potentially years behind the Ukrainians in terms of being able to conduct these kinds of maneuvers," he said.
近期维瓦尔迪的突击建立在更广泛的努力之上，旨在让装甲车辆重返更大规模的进攻突破行动。战争研究所（ISW）5月观察到，自2023年以来，乌克兰首次开始更频繁地实施机械化反攻，包括在前线攻击中使用装甲车辆。8月，战争研究所评估认为，乌克兰已能通过改进规划、压制俄防空力量以及新兴的无人机优势，恢复有限的机械化机动。
The recent Vivaldi assaults build on a broader effort to bring armored vehicles back into bigger offensive breakthrough operations. ISW observed in May that Ukraine, for the first time since 2023, was beginning to carry out more frequent mechanized counterattacks, including using armored vehicles in front-line attacks. In August, ISW assessed that Ukraine had been able to reintroduce limited mechanized maneuver through improved planning, suppression of Russian air defenses, and an emerging drone advantage.
到10月，该智库已察觉到乌克兰在这类重启的行动中占据了优势。比列茨基本周表示，机械化突击使其部队得以部分包围诺韦定居点，并将步兵部署到俄军防线后方，攻击隐藏在林区的无人机操作员。他说，这些打击削弱了俄罗斯进行无人机行动和收集战场情报的能力，为战术突破创造了条件。巴罗斯表示，消灭无人机操作员至关重要，因为这能让乌克兰部队向前推进。
And by October, the think tank had detected an edge for Ukraine in these kinds of renewed operations. Biletskyi said this week that the mechanized assault allowed his forces to achieve the partial encircling of the settlement of Nove and the deployment of infantry behind Russian lines to attack drone operators concealed in wooded areas. He said the attacks degraded Russia's ability to conduct drone operations and gather battlefield intelligence, setting conditions for a tactical breakthrough. Eliminating drone operators is key, Barros said, because it allows Ukrainian forces to push forward.
他说，乌克兰在这方面全年来已变得更加熟练，这也是乌克兰装甲车辆能够推进得更远的原因。维瓦尔第的领导人强调，通过炮兵、无人机和机器人等手段先削弱敌人，塑造战场环境至关重要。战争中密集的无人机网络、地雷和炮火，使得大规模装甲突击变得困难且危险。特别是廉价无人机，使得集结兵力变得困难，并增加了机动的复杂性。
It's something he said Ukraine has become better at over the course of the year, which was why Ukrainian vehicles were able to advance further. Vivaldi's leaders have emphasized the importance of shaping the battlefield by weakening the enemy first, including through the use of artillery, drones, and robots. The war's dense networks of drones, land mines, and artillery have made large armored assaults difficult and dangerous. Inexpensive drones, in particular, make it hard to concentrate forces and complicate maneuvers.
双方都在增加防护装甲，同时减少坦克活动，往往将坦克部署在离前线更远的地方。不过，维瓦尔第表明坦克并未退出战场。西方伙伴仍在押注坦克并采购新坦克，但他们预见到坦克的支援和部署方式将发生变化。官员表示，坦克仍有其位置，但其角色可能会转变。它们将需要与无人机等资产协同作战。北约欧洲盟军最高统帅亚历克西斯·格林克维奇上将5月表示，“传统平台并未过时”，但“关键问题是兵力组合：我们如何将舰艇、飞机、坦克和高端系统与机器人、无人机、传感器、软件和新型效能器结合，以提高杀伤力并更好地保护我方士兵？”
Both sides have added protective armor while decreasing tank activity, often keeping them farther from the front. Vivaldi shows they're not out of the fight, though. Western partners are still betting on tanks and buying new ones, but they foresee changes in how they are supported and deployed. Officials say tanks still have a place, but their role may shift. They will need to work alongside assets like drones. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said in May that "legacy platforms are not obsolete" but "the decisive question is the force mix: how can we combine ships, aircraft, tanks and high-end systems with robotics, drones, sensors, software and new effectors to increase lethality and better protect our soldiers?"