U.S. Could Be Sending Scatterable Landmines to Ukraine

The War Zone’s Howard Altman speculated yesterday that the landmines that the U.S. promised to send to Ukraine this week are of the type that are deliverable by artillery. He notes that the Pentagon confirmed that they are part of the $275 million package announced on Nov. 20, but that no mines are specifically listed in the press release. “That points to Ukraine likely being given artillery-fired Area Denial-Artillery-Munitions (ADAMs), designed to scatter landmines ahead of, on top of, or behind enemy forces,” he wrote. “Ukraine has already received 70,000 of the anti-armor variants of the mine-dispensing shells, has the howitzers needed to fire them which require no new training and nothing else in the package seems to be a match. It is still possible that there is another type of anti-personnel mine capability being given to Ukraine that wasn’t listed, but that seems unlikely based on the factors listed above and Ukraine’s urgent battlefield needs.”