Dragon's teeth are pyramidal anti-tank obstacles of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete or ferro-concrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ...

first used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to impede the movement of

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

s and

mechanised infantry Mechanized infantry are infantry units equipped with Armoured personnel carrier, armored personnel carriers (APCs) or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also armoured corps). As defined by the United States Army, me ...

. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into killing zones where they could easily be disposed of by

anti-tank Anti-tank warfare refers to the military strategies, tactics, and weapon systems designed to counter and destroy enemy armored vehicles, particularly tanks. It originated during World War I following the first deployment of tanks in 1916, and ...

weapons. They were employed extensively, particularly on the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

World War II

Dragon's teeth were used by several armies in the

European theatre The European theatre of World War II was one of the two main theatres of combat during World War II, taking place from September 1939 to May 1945. The Allied powers (including the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union and Franc ...

. The

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

made extensive use of them on the Siegfried Line and the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...

. Typically, each tooth was tall.

Land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

s were often laid between teeth, and further obstacles were constructed along the lines of teeth, such as

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

to impede

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

or diagonally-placed

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

beams to further hinder tanks. Many were laid in the United Kingdom in 1940–1941, as part of the effort to strengthen the country's defences against a possible German invasion: Due to the huge numbers laid and their durable construction, many thousands of dragon's teeth can still be seen today, especially in the remains of the Siegfrieds. File:Dragons Teeth - Fairbourne Beach - geograph.org.uk - 1413179.jpg, World War II dragon's teeth at

Fairbourne Fairbourne is a seaside village in Gwynedd, Wales. Located on the coast of Barmouth Bay in Arthog community, to the south of the estuary of the River Mawddach, it is surrounded by Snowdonia National Park. It is in an area that had been listed ...

Beach, Wales, in 2009, designed to stop tanks landing File:Dragons Teeth at Waverley Abbey.JPG, Dragon's teeth on GHQ Line near Waverley Abbey, Surrey in 2006 File:Ww2 allied advance siegfried line.jpg,

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

troops passing through dragon's teeth on the

in 1944. File:PianDeiMortiFossato 37.JPG, Dragon's teeth from the Alpine Wall File:Batz-sur-Mer Tétraèdres de plage 2009.jpg, Hollow examples at the Grand Blockhaus, France

Post World War II

The term has survived into the present day and can be used to describe a line of posts or

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...

s set into the ground to deter vehicle access, for example in rural car parking areas or alongside roads.

Switzerland

* Switzerland continues to maintain lines of dragon's teeth in certain strategic areas. In military jargon, these constructions can be referred to as "

Toblerone line The Toblerone line is a 10 km long defensive line made of "Dragon's teeth (fortification), dragon's teeth" fortifications built during the World War II, Second World War between Bassins, Switzerland, Bassins and Prangins, in the Canton o ...

s", after the

chocolate bar A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nut (fruit), nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some variet ...

Korea

* Korea – Dragon's teeth are present in some areas along the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korea, Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It wa ...

borderline.

Germany

* Germany – They were used on the East German side of the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

Yugoslavia

* Yugoslavia – Some countries after the breakup of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

have movable dragon's teeth, positioned at roadsides at strategic locations, which can be lifted and placed on the roads.

Russia

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Belgorod. , the population is 1,540,486. History During the Princely ...

, defensive lines of dragon's teeth were constructed in October 2022 under the supervision of the

Wagner Group The Wagner Group (), officially known as PMC Wagner (, ), is a Russian state-funded private military company (PMC) controlled 2023 Wagner Group plane crash, until 2023 by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a former close ally of Russia's president Vladimir Pu ...

along the

Russia–Ukraine border The Russia–Ukraine border is the international boundary between Russia and Ukraine. Over land, the border spans five Russian Oblast, oblasts and five Ukrainian oblasts. Due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in early 2014, the bo ...

, intended as a second line of defense alongside trenches and a trained militia in the event the

Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

break through the Russian border in the

Russo-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

. A series of dragon's teeth fortifications named the Wagner Line have also been built by the Wagner Group in Russian-occupied

Hirske Hirske (, ; ) is a city in Sievierodonetsk Raion, Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Hirske urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is Before 1938, it was named Hirsko-Ivanivsk (). During ...

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

. The Wagner Group aims to complete the Wagner Line in Russian-controlled Ukrainian territories as far east as Kreminna and as far south as Svitlodarsk. In November 2022, the Russians were seen by Ukrainian journalists to have fortified the region around

Melitopol Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...

with dragon's teeth lines. At least one journalist, quoting someone at the

Institute for the Study of War The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is an American nonprofit research group and advocacy think tank founded in 2007 by military historian Kimberly Kagan and headquartered in Washington, D.C. ISW provides research and analysis of modern arm ...

, called these the Surovikin Line. The dragon's teeth were only a component of the echeloned Russian defenses in southern

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

: minefields, anti-tank ditches, dugouts, and trenches added to the complex. A number of Belarusian firms supplied Russian troops with dragon's teeth. Dragon's teeth were also set up in the area of

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, Nikolske and

Staryi Krym Staryi Krym (; ; ; in all four languages) is a small historical city and former bishopric in Kirovske Raion, Kirovske (Isliam-Terek) Raion of Crimea, Ukraine. It has been occupied by Russia since 2014 (see Annexation of Crimea by the Russian ...

around the same time.

Poland

In February 2023 Poland began to fortify its border with

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

with dragon's teeth, due to insecurity the country was feeling over commenters like

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev (born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia since 2020. Medvedev was also President of Russia between 2008 and 2012 and Prime Mini ...

, who floated the idea of "pushing back" Polish borders during the one-year anniversary of the 2022

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. A few weeks later the Polish authorities decided to fortify their border with

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

too. This is additional to the border fence the Poles completed in October 2022.

Baltic states

A stretch of the borders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is to be fortified with dragon's teeth in the project Baltic Defence Line.

References

External links

The Toblerone trail

"You Build 'Em - We'll Bust 'Em."
''Popular Science'', June 1942, pp. 106–112. Field expedient tank traps constructed of logs.

- Dragon's Teeth and Tank Traps around England's south coast
Dragons Teeth on Libyan border with Egypt
* {{Fortifications Engineering barrages Anti-tank obstacles