The Czech hedgehog is a static anti-tank obstacle built from metal angle beams or I-beams crossed into a three-dimensional star shape resembling oversized knucklebones, designed to obstruct light and medium tanks and to keep working even after being overturned by an explosion. It was invented by the Czechoslovak officer Major Frantisek Kasik and first deployed along the Czechoslovak-German border in the late 1930s as part of the border fortifications of Czechoslovakia, after early concrete versions proved to shatter into dangerous debris under machine-gun fire and were replaced with metal ones. The Soviet Union used Czech hedgehogs extensively in the Second World War, especially in city fighting where a single obstacle could block a street, Germany incorporated them into the Atlantic Wall, and the military of Ukraine revived mass production of them for city defenses during the 2022 Russian invasion.
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Source Czech hedgehog (Wikipedia)
Source Czech hedgehog (Wikipedia)
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1. Czech hedgehog (Wikipedia)
Introduction
The Czech hedgehog (Czech: rozsocháč or ježek) is a static anti-tank obstacle defense made of metal angle beams or I-beams
Used In: World War II, Article text
The Czech hedgehog was widely used during World War II by the Soviet Union in anti-tank defense.
Used In: Russo-Ukrainian War, Article text
In early 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, hedgehogs were used in conjunction with concrete barriers and other techniques to thwart Russian forces.
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