Images have appeared in open access for the first time, indicating that the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has begun to use rounds of 155-mm M70/M73 Remote Anti-Armor Mine (RAAM) Systems in battles against the russians. This shells are designed for remote mining of terrain with anti-tank mines. M70/M73 are deployed by M741/M718 155mm projectiles (each contains 9 mines) and are used for area denial role.
This is stated in the Ukraine Weapons Tracker post.
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The transfer of US 155 mm RAAM rounds with submunitions for remote terrain mining was foreseen in two US military assistance packages allocated in September and October 2022, respectively. The September package provided for the transfer of 1,000 RAAM rounds, in October - the transfer of as many as 5,000 RAAM rounds, a total of 6,000 such "cluster" projectiles.
RAAM is a 155mm howitzer shell containing nine anti-tank mines.
These mines can be delivered at ranges from 4 to 17.6 kilometers from the artillery battery position using either the M109 series or M198 or M777 series howitzers.
RAAMS is effective against armored vehicles. The mines are expelled from the rear of the projectile over the target. After ground impact and roll, the mine is armed and ready to detonate upon sensing a proper armored vehicle signature (electromagnetic). A percentage of the nine RAAMS mines are equipped with an antidisturbance device.
RAAMS is highly effective when used in conjunction with the ADAM mine, which helps prevent neutralization by enemy ground troops. There are nine RAAMS mines per 155-mm projectile. Minefield densities and self-destruct times are the same as ADAM (M741 short-destruct, M718 long-destruct).
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