Razor wire

Razor wire, also called barbed tape, is a security barrier made of metal strips punched or twisted into sharp cutting edges, used to deter or injure anyone trying to cross a boundary. Although barbed wire had been patented since 1867, wire obstacles first saw significant wartime use in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, notably along the fifty-mile Moron-Jucaro defensive line of trenches and wire in Cuba. Facing wire shortages in the First World War, Germany developed an early flat-wire form with triangular cutting edges punched from steel strip, which could be produced faster than conventional barbed wire and resisted contemporary wire cutters; razor wire remains standard for securing military installations, conflict-zone defenses, and other restricted sites.