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Anti-tank trenches, also called anti-tank ditches, are ditches dug into and around fortified positions to hold up the advance of enemy tanks. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] Anti- tank ditches were first used in World War I by Germany in an effort to protect their trenches against the newly developed British and French tanks.
Anti-tank obstacles include, but are not limited to: The Czech hedgehog , dragon's teeth and cointet-element are the most famous types of World War II anti-tank obstacles. Anti-tank trenches were used on the western front during World War I , and in the Pacific, Europe, and Russia in World War II.
Russian anti-tank obstacles near the horizon, Kherson Oblast, May 2022. Dragon's teeth on the left, Czech hedgehogs on the right In Belgorod Oblast, defensive lines of dragon's teeth were constructed in October 2022 under the supervision of the Wagner Group along the Russia–Ukraine border, intended as a second line of defense alongside trenches and a trained militia in the event the ...
Anti-tank warfare evolved as a countermeasure to the threat of the tank's appearance on the battlefields of the Western Front of the First World War. The tank had been developed to negate the German system of trenches, and allow a return to maneuver against enemy's flanks and to attack the rear with cavalry.
The longest and most heavily fortified was the General Headquarters anti-tank line, GHQ Line. This was a line of pill boxes and anti-tank trenches that ran from Bristol to the south of London before passing to the east of the capital and running northwards to York. [52]
The effectiveness of any wire obstacle is greatly increased by planting anti-tank and blast antipersonnel mines in and around it. Additionally, connecting bounding anti-personnel mines (e.g. the PROM-1) to the obstacle with tripwires has the effect of booby-trapping the obstacle itself, hindering attempts to clear it.
The defenses consist of an extensive network of trenches, artillery positions, antipersonnel and anti-vehicle mines, razor wire, earthen berms, and dragon’s teeth—to hinder the movement of main battle tanks and mechanized infantry. [1] The fortifications aim to slow Ukrainian advances and channel them into favorable areas for Russia.
A sector includes 3 (or more) trench-rings and no more than a few ferro-concrete shelters surrounded by a wide zone of anti-personnel obstacles and 2 (or more) V- or U-shaped anti-tank trenches or dragon's teeth. 3-4 independent sectors connect by communication trenches into a defensive zone or fortress (company or battalion size). [4] [2] [1]