Fortifications: Past and Present

Since ancient times, these buildings were built, and construction, which allows to protect the city from the attacks of the enemy fortress.Scientifically this type of structure is called fortification.From lessons of history we remember that the ancient settlements were built especially in hard to reach places, such as hills or at the confluence of the rivers.Later it became popular to build forts and settlements around artificial barriers in the form of trees, ditches, walls of rough stones.

requirements wartime

As education became a powerful army, and actively develop the art of war.Since that time, they became known army fortifications, erected when the whole field fortifications.Thanks to such engineered steel buildings more efficient use weapons and military equipment, troops made it easier to manage, and defend against enemy attacks become more reliable.Modern fortifications can be the following types:

  • trenches, ditches that are built for firing;
  • observation and command posts are required to monitor their positions and enemy and control the army;
  • slit shelters, dugouts, shelters designed to protect both personnel and military equipment;
  • communication trenches, inspection gallery - a gallery that are underground or inside of some devices to hide the message.

fortifications, so it's a reliable way to protect your army, people and equipment from enemy attacks.And before their number was supplemented with various artificial obstacles such as ditches, scarps, counterscarp, tank obstacles, which were considered important components of castles, fortresses and forts.But during the Second World War, artificially erected buildings were considered independent fortified position called non-explosive obstacles.All this is possible to combine the notion of "simple fortifications" as they built simple and fast enough.

Open or closed design?

In terms of the design features of such facilities may be open or closed.For example, to include an open gap, trenches, ditches, they feature that the protective structure installed in separate locations, with entrance therein is exposed.This protective place to hide from the bullets, shell splinters and mines.Fortifications of closed type is created around the perimeter, and provides better protection and of conventional weapons and on the larger scale, such as nuclear weapons.

terms of conditions of construction and operational characteristics of protective structures may be long-term and the field.The first is most often made in time of peace for a long time: to create them using durable materials, are held in water and electricity, as in a place sometimes the army is long.In wartime, often erected field fortifications, which is made of the available materials at hand (stones, sticks, forest).

now appear more and more sophisticated designs, which are used for the manufacture of reinforced concrete, corrugated steel, synthetic materials, has a unique protective properties.Moreover, such structures can be easily transported with the army.