In the fight against the aggressor Russia, the Ukrainians are proving to be resourceful. Photo: AP / Efrem Lukatsky
International
Russia came, saw and conquered? Not in the Ukraine. The country is withstanding its neighbor’s brutal war of aggression. To do this, the Ukrainians are resorting to strange means. An effective weapon against the Russians consists mainly of air and is more reminiscent of a bouncy castle for children’s birthday parties.
They are huge, look deceptively real and tempt the Russians to shoot up their valuable rockets: inflatable decoys such as tanks.
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Ukrainians rely on the martial art of deception
Inflatable or wooden dummies are almost indistinguishable from real military vehicles by satellites, air reconnaissance and radar. So reports the “Washington Post” in August that Russian troops fired ten Kalibr cruise missiles at dummy wooden Himars launch pads in just a few weeks. They spent around one million euros apiece.
Inflatable dummies of heavy military vehicles such as tanks are designed to fool the enemy.Image: dpa / Michael Heitmann
The dummies tempt the enemy into firing expensive rockets pointlessly. A tactic already known from both world wars.
America relied on inflatable tanks in World War II
In the First World War, for example, French troops used old wine barrels to imitate large-caliber guns. During World War II, the Americans used inflatable vehicles for the first time. With this deceptive maneuver they were able to convince the Wehrmacht that they were dealing with a real troop. But the ghost army was nothing but hot air.
The special unit, the 23rd Special Troops, was responsible for these missions. The 1,100-strong force not only fought the enemy with inflatable tanks, but also with fake planes and fake hospitals. sea”Stern” even complete buildings made of rubber were part of their equipment. An inspiration for Ukraine? In any case, the business of inflatable military vehicles is booming.
The Czech Republic manufactures inflatable tanks
The Inflatech company from the Czech Republic builds tanks from artificial silk and air. In view of the tense security situation in Europe, the order books are full.
In a hall in the border town of Decin, seamstresses sit at machines to sew lengths of green fabric together. For the Pursue Inflatech they make inflatable dummies of heavy military vehicles. There has been more here for a year, since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine Work than already.
A worker sews fabric together at the Inflatech company.Image: dpa / Michael Heitmann
Much is top secret. His company can produce around 35 dummies every month, says managing director Vojtech Fresser of the dpa news agency. The advantages of the deception technique are obvious to him. Its products, such as inflatable battle tanks and armored personnel carriers, cost the equivalent of between around 10,000 and 100,000 euros – still a no brainer in terms of the enemy’s potential millions in losses.
“If you don’t use binoculars, you can’t tell from a distance of 150 to 200 meters whether it’s real technology or a dummy,” says Fresser. It is much more important, however, to imitate the heat and radar signature true to the original. How exactly this happens, he does not want to reveal.
Deceptively real: an inflatable decoy from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). Image: AP / Petr David Josek
Just this much: A specially designed device ensures that the areas that should be warm are warm. There is a lot of high-tech in the inflatable dummies. The Russians also resort to these deceptive maneuvers.
Russia also relies on hot air decoys
As early as 2009, the state news agency Ria Novosti reported on dummies of Russian T-72 and T-80 main battle tanks, the S-300 air defense system and Su and MiG fighter jets. Moscow is also trying to protect strategic missile systems such as Iskander or Topol-M with the replicas.
Russian military bloggers reported that there are special units in the Russian army that specialize in such deception maneuvers.
(With material from dpa)
Russia came, saw and conquered? Not in Ukraine. The country is withstanding its neighbor’s brutal war of aggression. To do this, the Ukrainians are resorting to strange means. An effective weapon against the Russians consists mainly of air and is more reminiscent of a bouncy castle for children’s birthday parties.
