Anti-tank gouges: purpose, history, arrangement

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

Our article will tell about anti-tank gouges that were used in the wars of past years to protect against heavy enemy equipment. Today, with more modern methods available, this type of fence is used less and less.

However, the assertion that this type of barrier is ineffective is fundamentally wrong. Many specialists in military engineering very successfully use the experience of past wars in our days. According to those who have mastered this practice and had the opportunity to evaluate its effectiveness in combat, this issue should be paid attention to in training.

Purpose

Nadolby refers to non-explosive fortification-type barriers. Engineering troops are engaged in the arrangement, sometimes together with the infantry.

Installation of gouges implies a set of measures, which includes:

• preliminary reconnaissance of the area, drawing up a plan for the location of barriers;
• direct mounting;
• disguise.

The principle of use is based on the creationimpassable space. Tracked vehicles that collide with an obstacle are delayed, as a result of which the enemy loses time and unmasks himself, trying to overcome the obstacles. The undercarriage is badly damaged, the track may break, the bottom may be pierced. Such barriers can be used not only to protect against tanks, but also against other military vehicles: MTLB, BMD, infantry fighting vehicles, etc.

Usage history

During the Finnish war, anti-tank gouges more than once stood in the way of the Soviet troops. The Finns used this type of barriers extensively. The KV-2 tank was even created, the gun of which (152 mm) was designed, among other things, to damage gouges.

Given this practice, it seems very strange that during the Second World War the Red Army did not use this type of barriers so effectively: combined arms commanders, not engineers, were engaged in planning; random people were involved in the construction; materials, time and resources were wasted. But only with the right organization, taking into account all the subtleties of military engineering, gouges can delay the enemy and damage his equipment.

In 1944, Russian troops faced powerful fortifications. Contrary to the general misconception, it was not the Finns and not the Germans, but the Russians, who called the anti-tank gouges the teeth of the dragon. Fortifications, protruding from the ground with massive pyramidal peaks, seemed to the Red Army men an underground monster blocking the path to the long-awaited Victory. To overcome the distance250 km between the Prussian border and Kenningsberg, the Russians spent about three months.

Possible designs

The lightest kind of anti-tank gouges are made from tree trunks dug to a depth of 1.5-2 meters and protruding above the surface by an average of 50 cm.. The weak point of this type of barriers is a small margin of safety. Artillery preparation, carried out even with the help of 82 mm mortars, can completely destroy the barrier. At the same time, it is the lowest cost type of fortification.

Reinforced concrete gouges require more time and money. The barrier should consist of several rows of gouges, consisting of a small above-ground part in the form of a pyramid or cone and an underground cube with a volume of 1 mz and more.

• The first row must be made in such a way that it gives the tanker the illusion of easy overcoming and is technically surmountable. The sloping side of the cone faces the enemy, and the opposite side rests on the ground almost perpendicularly. The height of the barriers should be 10-15 centimeters more than the clearance of the tank (for example, to stop the Abrams tank, the first row should be 58-62 cm).
• The second row has the same structure, but larger sizes. It should seem easy to overcome, but it shouldn't be.
• The following rows are made in the form of tetrahedrons, the height may exceed the notches of the first row in centimetersby 30. They are located at a distance that is slightly less than the width between the tracks. The gouges of the third and subsequent rows must be resistant to fragments min.

This arrangement and shape of the elements allows the tank to go through one or two rows of gouges, but not move further. Thanks to the steep reverse side of the passed pyramids, moving back is impossible, as well as turning on the spot, which is easily done by the tank on a relatively flat surface.

There are other, "non-academic" ways of arranging barriers, which are the result of the talents of individual military engineers and soldier's ingenuity. The gouges can be made from fragments of equipment that has become unusable, pieces of rails, and other materials.

Fences used in parallel with gouges

In the rows between reinforced concrete cones, it is not advisable to install anti-tank mines, since a foot sapper can easily detect and neutralize them. In addition, during the explosion of such a powerful mine (for example, TM-62), the gouges themselves may be damaged.

Anti-tank hedgehogs are used to close gaps where, due to the nature of the landscape, digging gouges is impossible. Rows of hedgehogs and ditches can strengthen the boundaries of the barrier line, resting against natural barriers.

Special military barbed wire can be used between rows of gouges. It does not have a big effect on the tank, but it interferes with the infantry accompanying the armored vehicles (sappers, scouts), and in some cases it candamage tracks. For the same purpose, as well as to unmask reconnaissance activities, anti-personnel mines (for example, MON-50) are installed between the rows.

Reconnaissance of enemy anti-tank barriers

Aerial reconnaissance facilities (UAVs) are currently widely used to detect enemy barriers. Reinforced concrete anti-tank gouges are clearly visible in the photos taken by the "drone".

Ground reconnaissance is necessarily carried out in small groups, which include sappers and engineers (sometimes also chemists). The camouflage, the location of the barriers, the dimensions of the elements and the distance between them, the material from which they are made are evaluated.

The detected objects are put on the map, the information is transmitted to the command. Minefields, stretch marks and flares are removed only after receiving the appropriate order. In some cases, it is not advisable to try to overcome the gouge strip, they leave it untouched and look for another way.

Overcoming anti-tank obstacles

The name "reinforced concrete" is conditional, not only concrete is used as a solution, reinforcement is also not always available. Having determined what the pillars are made of, a decision is made about the possibility of damage to them. Can be used shelling from mortars, howitzers, tank guns (rarely RPG hand grenade launchers). Usually one of the sectors is processed, in which the passage is “shoot through”.

Logs, floorings, collapsible bridges are used to ensure better cross-country ability.

In memory of past battles

Todayyou can see gouges, preserved from past wars, in many countries of the world. For example, in St. Petersburg, similar monuments remained on Stachek Avenue.

The anti-tank bulges that defend the city from the Nazi army were built by the hands of St. Petersburg children and women. Today, several pyramids are part of the memorial complex.