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A wire cutter is a military installation used to protect personnel in open vehicles against taut-wire traps. It was first used late in World War II and mainly installed as a field modification. There are no standard models, but wire cutters usually consisted of a piece of iron installed vertically on the front bumper coming up between two and three feet above the windshield of the vehicle when raised.
These wire cutters offer no protection against tripwires, or IED triggering.
The first land vehicle wire cutter to be demonstrated was fitted to the Killen-Strait tractor, during a demonstration in 1915. This used a pre-existing design of torpedo net cutter, intended for use on submarines. Despite the tactical importance of removing barbed wire barriers during World War I, this type of cutter was not attempted in the field. Heavy tanks were used simply to crush the obstacles.