Is The Tank Making A Comeback?

Conflict Tracker

Russia-Ukraine The Return Of The Tank? Is one of man’s most beautiful yet equally terrifying creations seeing the comeback it deserves after years of unnecessary slander? It very well may be, there have been growing hints about this since the beginning of the year. We have so far discussed Ukrainian mechanised counterattacks using drones in combined operations first on the Pokrovsk’e front, we then saw the Russian mechanised assault at Maiak and now we’re getting more information about the drone-tank combined operations around the Ukrainian counteroffensive’s north of Lyman.

2026 Lyman Counteroffensive

The key to the counteroffensive was Ukraine’s combined arms effort – Kirichenko Ukraine’s counteroffensive on the Lyman front has demonstrated that tanks and mechanised forces retain a role despite the growing dominance of drones. Conducted over several months under operational secrecy, the Third Army Corps’ Operation Vivaldi combined pressure on Russian rear areas with ground attacks, reducing a salient threatening the northern approaches to Ukraine’s Donbas defensive belt.

The operation’s significance lies in how these capabilities were coordinated. Strikes against Russian logistics weakened forward positions, while electronic warfare, drone support and mechanised assaults helped Ukrainian troops exploit emerging opportunities. This suggests improvements in Ukraine’s ability to conduct combined-arms operations following the difficulties experienced during its 2023 counteroffensive.

However, Lyman does not demonstrate that armour can operate freely across the battlefield. Ukrainian soldiers interviewed by CEPA described tanks as increasingly scarce in some sectors, where persistent surveillance and strike drones make movement and concealment difficult. Protective structures, electronic warfare and coordination remain essential to their employment.

The challenge is sustaining an advance. Forces moving beyond their initial objectives remain exposed to artillery and drones, while lengthening supply routes creates additional vulnerabilities. Lyman therefore offers evidence that mechanised manoeuvre remains possible under favourable conditions, although turning local gains into a sustained operational breakthrough remains difficult.

Russia’s Arena-M Gamble Could Pay Off

Russia’s deployment of Arena-M active protection illustrates how armies are trying to restore the survivability of tanks on a battlefield dominated by drones. The system uses defensive countermunitions to intercept incoming threats and has been adapted to engage first-person-view attack drones.

If you remember back in July was when we saw the first notable example emerging during a mechanised assault around Maiak utilizing the Arena-M, in the Dobropillya direction. Ukrainian veteran and drone specialist Dmytro Putiata reported that one tank intercepted seven FPV drones, while destroying a tank required between 15 and 20 drones during the engagement. I will note that these figures remain attributed battlefield accounts rather than independently verified measures of the system’s average effectiveness.

Nevertheless, the implications are significant. Even without making tanks invulnerable, active protection can increase the ammunition, time and coordination required to destroy them, potentially allowing crews greater opportunity to complete their missions. However, Arena-M-equipped tanks were still lost. The biggest drawback is its finite ammunition, meaning that the tanks defense is finite, leaving vehicles vulnerable once countermunitions are exhausted.

The broader lesson is that improved protection can support a recovery in armoured manoeuvre, but cannot achieve it alone. Tanks still require coordinated infantry, reconnaissance, electronic warfare and fire support to operate effectively under pressure.

Land Wars: Revenge of The Tanks…

Both sides are looking to break the tactical deadlock anyway they can. As the tank surplus continues to grow, at least for Russia, both sides are seeing this as a tool not being utilised. So far, the main focus point in the short term is to lengthen the operating room for tanks to engage enemies and participate in missions. In the long term, it will be to neutralise the enemies ability to launch drones whilst saturating the airspace with friendlies, creating a cover for mechanised assaults.