Engineering Fortifications

Due to the need to rapidly deploy defences, Soviet engineers had to quickly react to data from the field and develop and produce fortifications. These engineers made a great contribution to the modern understanding of fortification techniques.

For instance, the Soviet engineer Gorikker proposed a dramatically revised role for antitank hedgehogs: instead of trying to stop a tank, the hedgehogs he developed would roll under it, raise it slightly, and immobilize it. These hedgehogs were significantly lighter and easier to produce than their foreign counterparts, and they were highly mobile when transported along the front lines, which was very important when the combat area was constantly shifting.

Nevertheless, Soviet trenches were distinctive in that Red Army soldiers were forced to make them in a hurry and constantly change their positions, which negatively affected their convenience.