UK sends decoy tanks to Ukraine to confuse Russian forces
Photo: UK sends decoys to Ukraine to drain Russia’s resources (Getty Images)
Britain has found a clever way to counter Russian aggression without sending a large number of real weapons. For every five real tanks, the UK adds another 30 fake ones, forcing Russia to waste its resources on empty targets, informs The Times.
The UK is helping Ukraine deceive Russian forces. British troops are making the Russians believe that more weapons have been sent to Ukraine than actually were. This strategy is meant to lure Russian forces into using expensive equipment to destroy cheap printed mock-ups instead of real military systems.
"We haven't gifted a huge amount of these, so anything we can do to make the quantities look greater on the front line is advantageous to us," explained Lowri Simner, the RAF squadron leader.
Simner explained that the Russians, who now have access to satellite imagery and drones, are better at spotting inflatable decoys — like the ones used in World War II — so the UK had to adapt.
Britain's new deception tactics
As a result, a special unit known as Taskforce Kindred, which operates under the Ministry of Defense and handles Ukraine's equipment requests, teamed up with defense industry experts to develop more advanced deception tools.
Currently, experts take digital photographs of the actual equipment Britain sends to Ukraine. They then print those images on special materials and ship them to Kyiv. Ukrainian troops can assemble the decoys within hours.
These decoys are later deployed to the front line to confuse Russian targeting systems.
Colonel Olly Todd, a Royal Marine who is the military lead for procurement for Taskforce Kindred, said a 20-person team is working on various decoys — including models of the Challenger 2 tank and the AS-90 self-propelled artillery system, both of which are in short supply.
"They look just like the real thing. You could be quite easily fooled," Todd said, adding that the Ministry of Defense has come a long way since the days of inflatable tanks.
He noted that if the UK sends Ukraine five real vehicles, the Ministry of Defense is likely to add up to 30 decoys. These typically look authentic from a distance of about 25 meters. Todd said the mock-ups are "fundamental" on the battlefield.
Fakes on the battlefield
This isn't the first time decoys have been used in combat. For years, Ukraine has actively used mock equipment on the battlefield to force Russian troops to waste ammunition on fake targets.
Notably, Russian forces have also adopted similar tactics. They have painted fake aircraft on airfields to create the illusion of real planes.
There have also been reports of rubber Russian tanks deployed to simulate the presence of tank units in Ukraine. However, many of those deflated before they could fulfill their mission.
