the_dunk_tank

a cursory google search suggests that this isn't a common practice, but in ww2 both german and russian armies used heavy artillery barrages to clear minefields. here's some relevant discussions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/xl9med/eli5_why_cant_armies_clear_enemy_minefields_by/?rdt=36991

specifically:

sort of. The issue is modern explosive are very resistant to sympathetic explosions. A sympathetic explosion is one explosive going off makes another one go off. As a result the bomb or artillery hit would have to be very close. A 155mm artillery round might clear a circle about 3 meters in diameter. So let's say we want to clear a path for a main battle tank through a mine field though to be 2km deep. We will 3 rounds each about 1 meter apart gives us a bit of wiggle room. and one round about every 2 meters, again just to make sure.

So that's 3,000 rounds assuming we have rounds that go exactly where we want them. The only round that can do this is the US Excalibur. They come in at a cool 112K a pop. Our mine clearing op will thus run about 338 million USD, and all it gets us is a 4-5 meter clear zone. If we wanted say 3 zones at twice the width, so that one tank dining would not 100% block the zone then we are looking a more Excalibur rounds than the US has and a price of 2 billion.

What is instead used is a vehicle that lunches lines of explosives across the field and then use them to blow paths through.

operations room goes over how this was done in dessert storm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSqKx3FG0Lw

if this comment is accurate, its no wonder why the resource and munitions-strapped Ukraine wouldn't be able to use enough artillery shells to clear a path (let alone multiple) through a minefield.

https://www.reddit.com/r/WarCollege/comments/14ykchh/can_you_use_cluster_munitions_to_clear/

this one explains why they don't use cluster munitions to clear mines (turns the enemy minefield into a friendly UXO minefield)

besides, minefields and other defensive measures aren't intended to be impenetrable, they are designed to slow down their targets so that other elements can eliminate them while they are busy de-mining. during the last big ukrainian push, we saw a bunch of western wunderwaffen tanks get taken out by ATGM hits to the side and the like after having hit mines or having stopped to clear or maneuver around mines/destroyed allies.