Ukraine intensifies fake weapons deployment on frontlines to deceive Russia – The Telegraph
As Ukrainian troops confront heightened Russian attacks amid dwindling arms supplies, the demand for dummy weapon systems has surged, TheTelegraph reported on March 29.
Publication tells about one of the "factories" where such "weapons" are beeing made. Production is organized by architectural firm in its warehouse. In the evenings, volunteers create life-size models of rocket and artillery systems there.
Manufacturers strive to make them as realistic and inexpensive as possible. To create dummy guns, they use various materials at hand, such as foam blocks, old tires, plywood, sheet metal, and plastic pipes.
Read also: Ukraine used mannequins to fool Russian reconnaissance – crucial in liberation of Kharkiv Oblast
As the publication explains, the models are created to force Russia to spend ammunition on destroying fictitious targets. At the same time, the price of one shot is much higher than the price of a dummy, and in addition it helps the Ukrainian military identify the positions of Russian and helps to destroy them.
Over the past year, this company alone has created more than 200 models of Stugna ATGMs and two D-20 howitzers that have already been deployed at the front. At the beginning of production, the cost of one pseudo-ATGM was 3-4 thousand hryvnias ($75-100), and now it does not exceed a thousand hryvnias ($26).
Also, they just received an order for production of a mock-up of the Patriot air defense system. It will cost about $10.000, while the real Patriot costs about $1 billion. It is to be placed far enough from the front line to force the Russians to spend a valuable Iskander ballistic missile on a false target.
Read also: Czech company produces inflatable HIMARS for Ukraine to fool Russian military – video
Ukrainians are also creating fake Starlink terminals. Fake terminals are placed next to real ones to confuse Russian intelligence.
Increase in demand for dummy guns followed the first interview of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, where he said that Russian forces in eastern Ukraine recently had six times more ammunition than Ukrainian troops.
"The enemy is conducting heavy artillery and mortar fire,"
"A few days ago, the enemy's advantage in terms of fired ammunition was about six to one," said Syrskyi.
He also said that Ukrainian troops are adapting to fight with limited ammunition supplies and soldiers.
Read also: Russian military humiliated after duped into using a Lancet drone to strike a dummy war jet – video
The surge in the production of dummies is also related to the acute shortage of shells on the front line due to the lack of a decision by the US Congress on an aid package for Ukraine.
According to The Telegraph, deception tactics has reached new levels in Russian-Ukrainian war, from the use of inflatable tanks and wooden HIMARS models, to Ukraine posting giant images of blown-up hangars at air bases to make Russian pilots think they have been already destroyed.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
