Anti-tank hedgehog. Who invented the anti-tank "hedgehog"

I never knew. that these hedgehogs have an author. I thought that they were simply cooked from rails by eye, without much science. But it turns out that this is not at all the case. And the man puzzled over them for a long time.

Attention to non-explosive barriers in military science was not paid in the post-war period. Meanwhile, they, including anti-tank hedgehogs, in certain conditions and in modern warfare can play, although not a decisive, but significant role in the success of the defense of one side and the failure of the attack of the other.

The main mistake when making hedgehogs is exceeding the size. Even in the Instructions the height anti-tank hedgehog indicated 1 m. 45 cm.

Meanwhile, the essence of this barrier is that the hedgehog should have a height higher than the tank's ground clearance, but lower or equal to the distance from the ground to the upper edge of the lower frontal sheet of the tank. Approximately the height of the hedgehog should be about 0.9 -1.0 meters.
Because the hedgehog is not fixed in place and does not dig into the ground like a gouge, then the tank driver should be tempted to move the hedgehog with the frontal armor of his vehicle. When the tank moves towards the hedgehog, the latter begins to roll under it, and ultimately the tank ends up lifted above the ground. Its tracks lose reliable grip on the ground. And because The bottom of the tank is flat, then when you try to move backwards from the hedgehog, the tank often turns out to be unable to do this.

But evil_troll I dug up some material about the author somewhere:

There is silence outside the windows, because this house, standing opposite the now former “Tishinka”, is protected from the noise of the street an entire army huge trees. And just imagine, the old-timers remember who planted each tree. They called him “general”. But the main monument to General Mikhail Lvovich GORIKKER stands at the entrance to Moscow - an anti-tank hedgehog enlarged several times - a symbol of the first terrible days of the war. And every boy knew that the “hedgehog” would stop the German tank. But not many people know the name of the inventor, although on the tracing paper sent to the armies, indicating how to place tank barriers and how many there should be per kilometer of defense, there was the laconic Gorikker's HedgehogThe first days of the war. The military commandant of Kyiv, General Gorriker, head of the Kyiv Tank Technical School, spends days and nights at the headquarters and at the tankodrome, and at night in his office, conducting calculations and making everything from matches, plasticine, putty, bread crumbs, some strange geometric threads figurines. In the mornings, his son, fifteen-year-old Vladimir, looks at them in surprise, lost in conjecture. In our editorial office we have an act of testing “hedgehogs”. It describes “the most effective arrangement of anti-tank obstacles in four lines, the distance between the axles along the front” and how “the fang of the 2nd line got between the caterpillar and the drive wheel of the caterpillar drive and the fang of the 3rd line, resting against the bottom of the bow of the tank, raised the latter to the air." The commission concluded: it is necessary to use the “asterisk”, as they initially dubbed the “hedgehog” - the people later gave it a harsher and more caustic name - in particularly important areas.

“Hedgehog” is easy to make – you need railway rails, and they lay in stacks at the stations, and welding. But the exact calculation is so that the “hedgehog”, acting on the “vanka-stand” principle, turns over, delivering a blow, and when positioned, so that it has a place to turn over: the tank itself turns it into its enemy. General Gorikker was called to Moscow and flew along the fronts, giving precise instructions...

Today in Tishinka’s house there are many memorabilia related to the war. “Lives” here is an old piano, taken by cadets from burning Kyiv in 1941. It was traveling to the Urals on a platform along with tanks. The son of the general lives, the director of the miraculous opera films “Iolanta” and “The Tsar’s Bride” Vladimir Mikhailovich Gorikker. On the 55th anniversary of the Victory in the Museum of the Armed Forces, he saw on one of the exhibits, a “hedgehog,” taken to the museum directly from the military streets of the capital.” And he is standing next to the Heinkale shot down over Moscow by Viktor Talalikhin. And on the welded rails there is an inscription: “Gorriker’s hedgehog.” And all this because the report on the testing of the “hedgehog,” tracings of the drawings sent out in the armies, was recently found by the general’s son in his apartment in a box where films and his “Iolanta” lay. ... “Hedgehog” crossing out the swastika.

Necessary Preface

Gentlemen, moderators, please do not take this as a flame. A small message to the community. More precisely, to lovers of unconstructive criticism. Don't get me wrong. Yes, I'm a "jacket". Yes, my special training is many times worse than the training of graduates of higher educational institutions. But! Firstly, I still have some kind of training, unlike many Live Residents; Like you, I shoveled a significant amount of chipboard literature, and I also touched some things with my own hands (specific engineering iron, the handle of a shovel, etc.). Secondly, I am a 3rd generation sapper, I grew up in this. Thirdly, I'm not just an amateur military history and an “unfinished” lieutenant of the Armed Forces, I have also graduated from a higher technical educational institution - the main university of the construction industry in Russia, therefore, at least in engineering matters, I am obviously more knowledgeable than most humanities students.
Find an interesting text on the Internet and “copy and paste” it - great mind No need. I write my articles in a slightly different way. This is a compilation of PROVEN materials found on the net (if anyone is interested, I’ll write where), ancient chipboard materials different years, stories from officers of the engineering troops, my own notes and knowledge. I do not pretend to be the “role of God,” as they wrote to me recently. I'm very grateful alarik_o_shie and to other comrades who are looking for real “jambs” in my works. If there are people experienced in the issues under consideration, write, correct, supplement. I will be very happy. In my opinion, like this working together and this is one of the goals of our and alternative communities. The end of the “lyrical digression”

ANTI-TANK HEDGHOGS

I think everyone who traveled to Moscow from Sheremetyevo saw this monument:

This type of non-explosive engineering barriers became a kind of symbol of the heroic defense of Moscow in 1941. It is with this battle that most of our compatriots associate the anti-tank hedgehog. Although, this is not entirely fair. Hedgehogs were also used in other places, for example, on the Leningrad Front. And the Germans in 44-45, when things got hot, used anti-tank hedgehogs with all their might. By the way, according to Yu. Veremeev, the Germans, faced with a steel shortage, made full use of hedgehogs exported in 41-42 from the territory of the USSR. Well, it's quite possible...

So, what is an anti-tank hedgehog?
Wikipedia says clearly:
“The anti-tank hedgehog is the simplest anti-tank barrier, consisting of three-dimensional six-pointed stars. Hedgehogs are less effective than mines and other obstacles, but they can be large quantities be made from scrap materials without the use of high technology and can be easily transferred from one site to another, which is especially valuable in wartime. "
Less effective? Well, well. We were taught that NO non-explosive barrier is effective on its own. Only in combination with other non-explosive ones and together with explosive ones! And only while in the zone of actual fire from fire weapons (sorry for the tautology). Well that's true. By the way. High level. Wikipedia, however.

And who invented them? "The anti-tank properties of slingshots were discovered in Czechoslovakia (from here English name hedgehog - Czech hedgehog, "Czech hedgehog")"
Well, I can’t comment on this - we weren’t taught this. Maybe the Czechs too. Or maybe not.

"In the USSR, the hedgehog was tested (independently invented or borrowed - unknown) by Major General Mikhail Gorikker"
This is true, here is the document:

KTTU camp.

TEST ACT.

The tests were carried out on the training field of KTTU - Small Tankodrome, sandy-soft soil. To test for overcoming obstacles, 2 tanks BT-5 and T-26 were allocated from KTTU. Technical condition dedicated machines - quite serviceable. Anti-tank obstacles were placed in 4 lines of obstacles with gaps between the axes of the obstacles of 2-3 meters. along the front 2-2.5 mtr.

Light tank The T-26 was disabled during the first attempt at an obstacle - the hatch was torn off oil pump and the oil supply to the pipe was damaged, as a result of which oil leaked out of the engine after 3-5 minutes, which led to a forced stop of the machines.

The BT-5 tank, due to a large supply of dynamic force, overcame the initial arrangement of obstacles, resulting in a defect in the form of a bruised bottom of the tank, which affected its control and the operation of the side clutches and the tank required a two-hour repair.

The most effective arrangement of anti-tank obstacles is in the variant of the following arrangement made in 3.7-41: an obstacle in 4 lines of obstacles with stars arranged in a checkerboard pattern in depth, 1st line of obstacles after 6 meters, 2nd line of obstacles after 4 meters, 3- I line of barriers to through 2 mtr. 4th and final line of barriers.

The distance between the axles along the front: 1st line 1.5 mtr., 2nd and subsequent lines 2-2.5 mtr. gave a positive result, on the 1st line of barriers the dynamic forces of the tank were partially muffled, the tank lost speed and was forced to stop on the 2nd and 3rd lines, since the fang of the 2-1st line got between the caterpillar and the driving wheel of the caterpillar drive and the fang of the 3rd line star, resting against the bottom of the bow of the tank, lifted the latter into the air.

This position, without help from outside, does not make it possible to continue moving and tow the tank after clearing the field from the obstacle. Stopping a tank at a barrier is the most effective phenomenon for shooting tanks with artillery along pre-targeted sections of an established barrier. CONCLUSION: The Commission believes that anti-tank obstacles - six-pointed stars - are an effective anti-tank barrier, this type of barrier can be widely used in the area of levels, defiles and especially important directions.

See no.
-2-

Number of obstacles “Stars” per 1 km, up to 1200 pcs. Average weight lightweight welded design option 200-250 kg. Dimensions: bars length 1.9-2 m, 6 pcs. in total. at the intersection of 3 planes.

The weight of the structure filled with steel is from 300-400 kg.

Structures transported by cars and railway transport in finished form to the place of application.

The designs are not complicated and can be produced by any factory in large quantities.

APPENDIX: Photos of the experiments performed.

P/SIGNED: SECRETARY OF THE CP/B/U /BIBDYCHENKO/
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL CENTER/YALTANSKY
SECRETARY K.P.K /SHAMRILO/
MAJOR GENERAL /GORIKKER/
COLONEL /RAEVSKY/
MILITARY ENGINEER /KOLESNIKOV/
DIRECTOR OF THE BOLSHEVIK /KURGANOV/
-"- 225 /MAXIMOV/
- "- LENKUZNYA /MERKURIEV/

The copy is correct HEAD OF THE SECRET UNIT
TECHNICIAN QUARTERMAN 2nd RANK
-/WIPERS/-

And lastly, a photograph that I took at my native regional military registration and enlistment office. What is this? Anti-hedgehogs? Or baby anti-tank ones?

The Great Patriotic War has tangible, material symbols. Famous examples of technology that glorified Russian weapons throughout the world (T-34 tanks, Il-2 attack aircraft, Pe-2 bombers, were produced in huge quantities, unprecedented in the history of mankind. The surviving copies of these formidable combat units took their place on pedestals. But they were also quite simple in appearance, and In size, they are by no means grandiose defensive weapons, which fully deserve to have a monument erected to them. Anti-tank hedgehogs held back the advance of the Nazi hordes no less effectively than the famous magpie guns, or rather, they helped our armor-piercing artillerymen, acting together with them.

1939 Europe without hedgehogs

Hitler started the war armed light tanks and the Blitzkrieg doctrine. Swift throws of mobile armored vehicles, envelopments, “cauldrons” - this is the technology using which the Nazis captured most of Europe, without bothering with long sieges and protracted battles. Beyond the Sudetes, they had to encounter barrier structures, but the Czech anti-tank hedgehogs turned out to be unable to cause any harm, they were simply pushed apart and rushed into the gaps that had arisen. The German generals assumed that in the USSR they would be able to cope with the task set by the command no worse. A very unpleasant surprise awaited them.

"Funny" obstacle

When the German tank crews first saw our anti-tank hedgehogs, they were not at all puzzled, and some of them even laughed at “those stupid Russians” who thought that steel fist The Wehrmacht can be stopped or at least delayed “with this.” And in fact, some simple combination, welded from beams or ordinary rails, is only a meter high or even lower. Having examined this mysterious object through binoculars, the Germans decided that it really did not pose a danger, it was not even dug into the ground. The Czechs, like real Europeans, approached the task thoroughly; concrete was used in the manufacture of their barriers, which, however, did not interfere with their movement. After thinking, the Panzerwaffe commanders gave the command to attack. It soon became clear that not everything is so simple...

German tanks

In the first years of the war (T-I, T-II and T-III) were light. This meant that their weight did not exceed 21 tons, and the bottom armor was practically absent. There was also an important drawback in their design - the front transmission. It was she who suffered primarily during collisions with anti-tank hedgehogs. The piece pierced the thin metal of the bottom and destroyed the mechanism. The German gearbox is a complex and expensive thing. Especially the tank one. But that's not all... Main danger was in a completely different circumstance.

How does an anti-tank hedgehog work?

It was the small size of the steel “hedgehog” that made it effective means. If it were big, there would be much less problems. He leaned his frontal armor against it, engaged first gear, and then slowly, slowly... The Soviet anti-tank hedgehogs tried to roll and crawl under the bottom, breaking the grip of the tracks with the ground. The attempt to “move out” led to a disastrous result. The bottom is torn, the oil line is leaking, the gearbox is jammed. And all this destruction can only be sadly considered, and only if at that moment the crew of an anti-tank gun is not firing from behind the parapet or the artillerymen are not practicing their shooting accuracy at the weakly protected lower horizontal section of the armored hull. Here the ammunition is not far from detonating, and the gasoline is about to catch fire. You need to leave the car, but then the infantry threw a light on it. In general, there were not enough hunters to envy the German tank crews at such a moment.

"Star" by General Mikhail Lvovich Gorikker

Actually, he had a star, and on every chase, a general’s. M. L. Gorikker served as head of the Kyiv Tank Technical School. But he became famous for another “star”.

Gorikker is an example of a real Russian officer, two received in German war, confirm that he was not only smart, but also brave.

After the German attack, the issue of anti-tank weapons immediately and acutely arose. The requirements were simple, but strict: technological simplicity, availability of manufacturing materials and high efficiency.

Being a competent engineer (especially in the field of armored vehicles), M. L. Gorikker made many calculations, after which he proposed his anti-tank “hedgehog”. The drawing was approved, and in July several prototypes were made and tested at the test site. The role of the “targets” of this chargeless device was played by the lungs. soviet tanks T-26 and BT-5, they were superior to their German counterparts (in particular, they had a much better chassis and a rear transmission), but they were still badly damaged. So, in the arsenal of the Red Army a new means of combating armored vehicles enemy, called the Gorikker asterisk. Later the front-line soldiers called him “Hedgehogs”; apparently, pronouncing the tricky name of the inventor was not easy. But getting it is not enough; you also need to know how to use it.

Manufacturing technology

By July, all enterprises of front-line cities (Odessa, Sevastopol, Kyiv and many others) that had necessary equipment, received assignments to produce anti-tank hedgehogs. All machine-building factories became military, there were no problems with labor resources, there were enough specialists.

The technology was simple; each “hedgehog” required three pieces of I-beam less than one and a half meters long. It is best if these parts were made from durable steel, but most often they used rails, tram or railway, they were always at hand.

They had to be welded or firmly connected in some other way so that when a certain force is applied finished product could roll without collapsing.

Combat use

For effective use It was not enough to know how to make an anti-tank hedgehog; it was necessary to learn some of the features of using this anti-tank weapon in combat conditions.

Firstly, it is best to install it on a surface that is fairly flat, but not slippery, otherwise it will be easy to move it away with the help of simple auxiliary devices (a cable with a hook or loop, for example). Frozen soil or asphalt is excellent.

Secondly, the distance between the rows of defense elements is important (and there should be many “hedgehogs”; one does not solve anything). It should be one and a half meters (for the first and second) and two and a half for the next echelons. As in any fortification, the more protection contours, the better.

Thirdly, the “hedgehogs” in the rows can be connected to each other, but the next line must be autonomous from the previous one.

Fourthly, the use of barbed wire is undesirable. The mount is special for her.

Fifthly, it is better to mine the approaches.

Violation of these simple rules in front conditions led to a decrease in the combat effectiveness of the means, as did attempts to make “Gorikker stars” large sizes than recommended by the instructions.

By the way, the inventor, who can be called a genius (for the simplicity of the solution), had other merits; he received many government awards both before and after the war, including the Order of Lenin. And for the “hedgehogs” the government gave him a FED camera.

The war continued, and that long-awaited turning point came, after which the Soviet generals no longer thought about defense. Only the offensive, and on all fronts! And then the war ended victoriously.

Memory

Many heroes died on nameless high-rise buildings, covering with their bodies native land. In every village, city or town through which the fiery wave of the front swept, today there is a monument. Anti-tank hedgehogs became a symbol of the unbending defiance of all the peoples of the USSR, who managed to break the neck of the disgusting Nazi vermin. Now they can be made large and placed on pedestals. So they stand like silent sentries, reminiscent of a harsh time.

In 1966, not far from the center of Moscow, on the 23rd kilometer of the Leningradskoye Highway, an unusual monument was erected. Giant structures stylized as anti-tank barriers mark the point at which the advancing German units and four divisions of militia, composed of citizens of different professions, ages and destinies, converged. The memorial is dedicated to the memory of Muscovites who did not flinch in the battle for their capital. Anti-tank hedgehogs in Khimki are one of many monuments glorifying the memory of our ancestors. Gorikker's invention was made of steel. But it's not just about the metal.

During the retreat, the Nazis tried to use Soviet “hedgehogs” to defend Berlin and other cities of the then Third Reich. They didn't help them...

Anti-tank hedgehogs are a legendary weapon of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

What's tricky about a hedgehog? It’s as easy as pie to make, these are three pieces of steel beam welded together, something similar was encountered by the Nazis before on European asphalt; tanks moved these barriers on the side of the road without causing damage to themselves. Anti-tank hedgehogs are today an almost forgotten method of fighting tanks; their design is simple and ingenious as folk wisdom, however, before us is a real invention, created according to all the rules of military science. The author of the hedgehogs is Major General Technical Service Gorikker, Head of the Kiev Tank Technical School. At first, hedgehogs were called Gorikker's star. They were first used in the defense of Kyiv, then they migrated to Moscow, and then spread to all fronts.

Guderian writes in his memoirs that German tank crews laughed when they saw tiny iron structures in front of their tanks by tank standards.

At first, not a static, but an active obstacle appeared; the hedgehog was not fixed in place and did not dig into the ground, so German tankman there was a temptation to move the barrier and, running over it, the tank easily overturned the modest structure, the hedgehog rolled under the tank, the tracks lost traction with the ground and the tank found itself raised above the ground, this was the main hidden purpose of the invention. The hedgehog's free edge dug into the armor from below, and when trying to move back, the speed and power of the tank worked against it, tearing the armor with the sharp edge of the hedgehog, causing monstrous damage. Any tank whose transmission and gearbox were in front ran into a hedgehog, pierced the bottom, the hedgehog invariably destroyed the transmission, and the German light tanks Pz.II (T-2) (T-3) (T-4) were all front-mounted transmissions, so naturally, running into a hedgehog, they failed for a long time.

Mikhail Lvovich Gorikker, inventor of anti-tank hedgehogs

The inventor of hedgehogs, Mikhail Lvovich Gorikker, was born in 1895, in the first world war soldier, awarded two St. George's crosses, civilian commissar of field hospitals in the south western front, then commissar of heavy artillery command courses. After the Civil War, chief inspector of the Red Army for military educational institutions. At the end of the 1930s, Gorikker was appointed head of the Moscow tank technical school; in 1938 he moved to Kyiv, and in 1940 he received the rank of major general.

The war of 1941-1945 finds him in this rank. Mikhail Lvovich Gorikker thought, what if we make a barrier obstacle below the tank, and not above, just a little above the tank’s ground clearance, this was the first revolutionary solution. Then the front part of the tank, having driven onto the edge of the protruding hedgehog, began to push it, and by pushing it, turn it over. It’s amazing how timely the general proposed his invention; the test report for the so-called “star” bears the date July 3, 1941. All front-line factories began producing anti-tank hedgehogs, all metal industrial profiles, railway rails were used, in the first months of the war a huge number of hedgehogs were produced, almost 30,000 for the defense of Moscow alone.

However, it is worth remembering that anti-tank hedgehogs were effective against light and medium tanks weighing no more than 40 tons; fortunately, the German troops did not have any other tanks at that time. The most powerful German tank at the beginning of the war was the T3 21 ton, with a 50 mm cannon; if it tried to overcome the hedgehog itself, it climbed and hung on it. And our artillery or infantry with grenades or bottles with incendiary means finished off an immovable tank. Gorikker's invention helped in the defense of Kyiv, but the city was doomed by that time.

Hedgehog test

Document from the Gorikker archive: 1941, the T 26 light tank was disabled during the first attempt at an obstacle, the oil pump hatch was torn off and the oil-conducting tubes were damaged, as a result of which the oil leaked out after 3-5 minutes, which led to the forced stop of the tank.

It takes an average of 280-300 kg to make one hedgehog. metal and only an hour and a half of working time, installation with a crane took 6 minutes, but more often they did it without any equipment, by hand, for this two people are quite enough. According to Gorikker's scheme, hedgehogs should be arranged in a checkerboard pattern; this key condition was not met; in addition, they were often tied with barbed wire, and this is not correct; hedgehogs should roll freely in order to ultimately end up under the bottom of the tank.

The hedgehog doesn’t fight the tank, it delays it, then they say guns, and there weren’t enough of them in the winter of 1941, and the infantrymen who were nearby couldn’t do anything, often they didn’t even have anti-tank rifles. In those sections of the front where there were hedgehogs anti-tank guns, the effectiveness of hedgehogs was high. Hedgehogs generally paid off if the anti-tank hedgehog was interconnected and supported by fire, mine laying, and artillery. By the end of November, Gorikker managed to correct the mistakes associated with the combat use of hedgehogs; harsh times teach them how to make them correctly, properly poison them, and successfully cover them with fire. In total, 37,500 hedgehogs are used in the defense of Moscow.

Monument to anti-tank hedgehogs in Khimki

At 23 km of the Leningradskoye Highway, hundreds of meters from present-day Moscow, a monument was erected in the form of an anti-tank barrier; here in the fall of 1941, 4 divisions of the people's militia held the defense.

December 6, 1966, Leningradskoye Highway, 23 km Muscovites gathered for the opening of the most unusual monument to the defender of Moscow. The place is expensive to the Soviet man, huge anti-tank hedgehogs symbolize unparalleled resilience, this monument was erected by the youth of the capital. The only anti-tank hedgehog in the world is being reborn as a memorial ensemble. The granite memorial plaque contains the names of the authors of the monument; here the architects are designers; there is no information about the author of the hedgehog himself, and was there even one? It is generally accepted that the hedgehog was created by the tireless soldier’s ingenuity.

The use of anti-tank hedgehogs by the Germans.

Our troops are unstoppable in the offensive, now on the defensive. German troops, red star tanks, are rushing towards Brelin, the Red Army soldiers cannot believe their eyes, it cannot be, German roads are bristling with Soviet hedgehogs.

According to war historian Eremeev: German troops took out 20,000 hedgehogs and used them in the defense of Berlin. The Germans believed so much in the effectiveness of Russian hedgehogs that they began to install them not only on land, but also at sea. In 1944, they were placed in the English Channel in shallow waters off the coast of Normandy against Allied landing barges.

Anti-tank hedgehogs in other countries

In the world, anti-tank hedgehogs have the established name Czech hedgehog; in 1938, such a structure existed and was used as one of the elements of the Czech defense. Czech hedgehog made of reinforced concrete, its shape is different, it can lift the tank if it runs over both paws of a hedgehog, but if it hits one, as happens more often, it goes into the ground or is destroyed. We, too, could have used the entire concrete industry to pour such hedgehogs, but we needed something quick and not expensive. The leadership of the USSR adopted a simpler, more reliable and effective design metal hedgehog General Gorikker.

Anti-tank hedgehog, so well known from documentary films and photographs initial period The Great Patriotic War was invented in June 1941 by the head of the Kyiv garrison, the head of the Kyiv Tank Technical School, Major General of the Technical Troops Gorikker M.L.

The inventor of the anti-tank hedgehog is Major General of the Technical Troops Gorikker Mikhail Lvovich (1895-1955). During the First World War, a soldier of the Russian Army. Awarded two St. George's Crosses. During the Civil War, commissar of field hospitals of the Southwestern Front, commissar of heavy artillery command courses, commissar of infantry command courses. At the end of the Civil War, chief inspector of the Political Directorate of the Red Army for military educational institutions.
From 1929 to 1933, he was a student at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army named after Stalin. Upon graduation from the academy, he was appointed head of the Moscow Tank Technical School. In 1938, he moved to Kyiv with the school.
In June-July 1941, being the head of the Kyiv Tank Technical School, he was also the head of the Kyiv garrison and the head of the defense of Kyiv.
During the war years, he occupied successively the positions of head of the motor transport department of the Main Directorate of the Motor Transport and Road Service of the Red Army, head of the operation and road transport department of the Main Automobile Directorate, head of the motor transport department of the Leningrad Front, head of the inspection of the Main Motor Transport Directorate of the Red Army.
In the post-war years, he was the head of the Ordzhonikidze, then the Ryazan Automotive School.
Awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner of Battle, the Order of the Patriotic War, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of the Badge of Honor, the 20th Years of the Red Army Medal, the medals "For the Defense of Moscow", For the Defense of Leningrad", For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For Victory over Germany" and other medals.
In conclusion, it should be noted that when describing the anti-tank hedgehog in the article “Anti-tank hedgehogs”, the author of the article did not yet know that this type of barriers was also appreciated by the Germans. After all, the hedgehogs of the Pz Kpfw II, Pz Kpfw III, Pz Kpfw IV tanks, among other things, also ripped through the bottom and damaged the transmission or engine.
In the final period of the war (autumn 44 - spring 45) during the fighting in Poland, Pomerania, Berlin, our tankers met, only on the other side, their old friends - anti-tank hedgehogs, which the Germans widely used in the same capacity as the Red Army in 41 Employee of the Central Military Commission of Russia V.N. writes about this in his article “Anti-tank hedgehog-symbol of war”. Starovoitov. It remains unclear whether the economical and thrifty Germans then in 1941 cleaned up before the difficult times Soviet hedgehogs, or at the end of the war they made them themselves. More likely the first. Then they no longer had enough metal, time or energy to make them.
Below are published documents confirming that the anti-tank hedgehog was invented in June 1941 by the head of the Kyiv garrison, Major General of the Technical Troops Gorikker Mikhail Lvovich. The documents were presented to the author of the article by the inventor’s son V.M. Gorikker and grandson V.V. Smelkov. Original copies of these documents are currently kept in the Central Museum of the Russian Armed Forces in Moscow.

Camp KTTU - Syrets 3.7 1941.

TEST ACT.

1.3 - July 1941, a commission consisting of the Secretary of the Central Committee of the KP/b/U for mechanical engineering comrade BIBDYCHENKO, head of the Department of Defense Industry of the Central Committee comrade YALTANSKY, secretary of the State Industrial Complex comrade SHAMRILO, Head of the Kiev Garrison Major General comrade GORIKKER, Plant Directors: BOLSHEVIK - comrade KURGANOVA, 225 comrade MAKSIMOVA, the Lening Forge of comrade MERKURIEV and representatives of KTTU Colonel RAEVSKY and military engineer 2nd rank KOLESNIKOV tested an anti-tank obstacle - a 6-point sprocket made from scrap rails, a proposal from Major General of the technical troops comrade Gorikker.
The tests were carried out on the training field of KTTU - Small Tankodrome, sandy-soft soil. To test for overcoming obstacles, 2 tanks BT-5 and T-26 were allocated from KTTU. The technical condition of the allocated machines is quite good. Anti-tank obstacles were placed in 4 lines of obstacles with gaps between the axes of the obstacles of 2-3 meters. along the front 2-2.5 mtr.
The T-26 light tank was disabled during the first attempt at an obstacle - the oil pump hatch was torn off and the oil supply pipes were damaged, as a result of which oil leaked out of the engine after 3-5 minutes, which led to a forced stop of the vehicles.
The BT-5 tank, due to a large supply of dynamic force, overcame the initial arrangement of obstacles, resulting in a defect in the form of a bruised bottom of the tank, which affected its control and the operation of the side clutches and the tank required a two-hour repair.
The most effective arrangement of anti-tank obstacles is in the variant of the following arrangement made in 3.7-41: an obstacle in 4 lines of obstacles with stars arranged in a checkerboard pattern in depth, 1st line of obstacles after 6 meters, 2nd line of obstacles after 4 meters, 3- I line of barriers to through 2 mtr. 4th and final line of barriers.
The distance between the axles along the front: 1st line 1.5 mtr., 2nd and subsequent lines 2-2.5 mtr. gave a positive result, on the 1st line of barriers the dynamic forces of the tank were partially muffled, the tank lost speed and was forced to stop on the 2nd and 3rd lines, since the fang of the 2-1st line got between the caterpillar and the driving wheel of the caterpillar drive and the fang of the 3rd line star, resting against the bottom of the bow of the tank, lifted the latter into the air.
This position, without help from outside, does not make it possible to continue moving and tow the tank after clearing the field from the obstacle. Stopping a tank at a barrier is the most effective method for shooting tanks with artillery in pre-targeted areas of an established barrier.
CONCLUSION: The Commission believes that six-pointed star anti-tank obstacles are an effective anti-tank obstacle; this type of obstacle can be widely used in the level area, defile and especially important areas.
see n/v.

Number of obstacles “Stars” per 1 km, up to 1200 pcs. The average weight of the lightweight welded design option is 200-250 kg. Dimensions: bars length 1.9-2 m, 6 pcs. in total. at the intersection of 3 planes.
The weight of the structure filled with steel is from 300-400 kg. The structures are transported by cars and railway transport in finished form to the place of use.
The designs are not complicated and can be produced by any factory in large quantities.

APPENDIX: Photos of the experiments performed.

P/SIGNED:

SECRETARY OF THE CP/B/U /BIBDYCHENKO/
HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL CENTER/YALTANSKY
SECRETARY K.P.K /SHAMRILO/
MAJOR GENERAL /GORIKKER/
COLONEL /RAEVSKY/
MILITARY ENGINEER /KOLESNIKOV/
DIRECTOR OF THE BOLSHEVIK /KURGANOV/
-"- 225 /MAXIMOV/
- "- LENKUZNYA /MERKURIEV/
The copy is correct HEAD OF THE SECRET UNIT
TECHNICIAN QUARTERMAN 2nd RANK
-/WIPERS/-

The hedgehog is made from three pieces of rolled steel (usually an I-beam - a rail, angle, etc. are less strong) so that the ends of the beams form an octahedron. The beams are connected with rivets on gussets (the structure must withstand the weight of the tank - up to 60 tons). On hedgehogs industrial production holes are left for the barbed wire, one of the beams is made removable. To make the work of enemy sappers more difficult, hedgehogs can be connected with chains or cables, mined in the area around them, etc.
Hedgehogs are installed on hard ground (asphalt street surfaces are best suited). Concrete is not suitable - the hedgehog will slide on concrete. If the tanker tries to push the hedgehog away, it will roll under the bottom and the tank will be raised. The tracks lose traction with the ground, the tank begins to slip and is often unable to move off the hedgehog; the protruding beam may even pierce the bottom. The defending forces can only destroy the stopped tanks and prevent the tankers from pulling the hedgehogs away with tow ropes. And if the enemy took the tanks in a different direction, the anti-tank defense even more so fulfilled its task.
The hedgehogs are about 1 m in height - more than the ground clearance of the tank, but lower than its front plate. It is not advisable to make hedgehogs of large sizes - a hedgehog that is higher than the front sheet will be easily moved by the tank.