The Russian army has inflatable warplanes and tanks which serve a vital role. Seen from even a short distance, they are indistinguishable from the real thing – to confuse and distract an enemy, reports The Daily Mail, London.
These inflatables are made by the Russian manufacturer Rusbal.
The company was approached by the Russian defence ministry to supply full-scale decoys to protect the true capabilities of their strategic installations from being seen by surveillance satellites.
Weighing around 100kg, the decoys can easily be transported and installed by small teams of soldiers in minutes.
They imitate the heat signature of combat units, fooling enemy infra-red detectors.
And they even stay intact after suffering minor damage from bullets or explosions.
Demand from other nations has been so strong that Rusbal is now offering imitations of Western military equipment as well as Russian.
It is not the first time armies have used decoys to fool their enemies.
Such tactics were used during the Cold War and extensively in the Second World War.
The Allies went to great lengths to hoodwink the Nazis, deploying hundreds of inflatable tanks during Operation Fortitude in fields around Dover to convince the German high command that the invasion of France would take place near Calais rather than Normandy.
Up to 500 decoy air bases complete with fake runways and fake fighter planes were also dotted around Britain to trick the German air force. Some were deliberately set on fire to try to deceive Nazi bombers.
It is estimated that some 50 per cent of attacks on British airfields by the Germans during the Second World War hit decoy bases.
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