Losing a tank or valued US-made high mobility artillery rocket systems (Himars) can hurt an army less the weapon is a cheap inflatable decoy placed on the frontlines to deceive the enemy.
ith the war in Ukraine boosting the need for heavy military vehicles, guns and planes, it has also been a boon to Inflatech Decoys, a Czech maker of fake army equipment.
The company has added Himars to its fleet of over 30 types of inflatable real-size decoys it sells to customers worldwide, chief executive Vojtech Fresser said.
Inflatech would not confirm Ukraine is among the destinations, but Mr Fresser said he would expect them to find their way there.
“I can imagine that if we want to support a partner country which is in trouble, we will send them Inflatech inflatable decoys and they are already there or certainly will be,” he said.
The Czech Defence Ministry, which helps organise Czech military supplies to Ukraine, was not immediately available for comment.
The decoys are made out of synthetic silk and, apart from misleading the adversary visually, have a thermal footprint and appear on radars to fool enemy reconnaissance.
They pack into sacks that two to four soldiers can carry, and can be inflated within 10 minutes.
The Himars’ inflatable top, without the heat generator and compressor equipment, weighs 43 kg, Mr Fresser told reporters at the factory in the northern Czech city of Decin.
The decoys cost from $10,000 (€9,361) to $100,000.
“If you lead the enemy to destroy my piece of equipment by something that is four, or maybe 20 times more expensive, then you are winning economically,” Mr Fresser said.
Inflatech has seen business boom since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, raising production to dozens of decoys per month, and sees big growth this year.