The Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO) hosted the Industry Days defense exhibition at the “Industriens Hus” in central Copenhagen, Denmark on Aug. 20.
A number of military commentators and journalists visiting the expo noticed the presence of an inflatable F-16 Viper fighter on the Czech Inflatech company’s stand. It was noted that the replica was bearing Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) markings.
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The appearance of the inflatable fighter just weeks after the first donated US-designed aircraft had arrived in Ukraine seems more than a coincidence. As Kyiv Post previously reported, Inflatech, whose slogan is “The art of war is deception,” is already providing Kyiv with a number of different military equipment decoys.
The Děčín based company’s decoys replicate more than 30 types of Western and Soviet/Russian military vehicles that can be used for both complex training and battlefield operations. Examples include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), BM-30 Smerch, Pantsir-S1and Patriot air defense systems, Abrams, Leopard, T-72, T-80, and T-90 tanks. Their products also include infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and armored personnel carriers, fighter aircraft, military trucks, radars, and even naval targets.
Inflatech’s decoys are life-sized, self-propelled, and mounted on small, tracked platforms controlled by radio and GPS, that allow them to simulate limited vehicle movement.
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They not only visibly resemble the weapon systems they stand in for, but use material that closely replicates the thermal, infrared (IR) and radar signatures close enough to the real thing to fool even the most sophisticated enemy
The full-scale inflatable F-16 replica shown in Denmark is painted gray and includes a transparent ‘cockpit canopy,’ simulated wingtip-mounted weapons, and center mounted ‘drop fuel tank.’
The company would not confirm whether or not it was supplying the F-16 decoys to Ukraine, causing commentators to wonder if the application of UAF insignia was a marketing exercise intended to attract buyers’ interest.
As Kyiv Post reported in September 2023, Ukraine has been making extensive use of decoys manufactured by the Metainvest company and others that use scrap materials to make fake copies of advanced weapon systems that fool Russian operators into expending artillery, drones and missiles to destroy piles of junk made to look like missile systems, tanks, aircraft or other attractive targets.
In July, images of a replica F-16 being put together in a barn somewhere in Ukraine a couple of weeks before the first F-16s were due to arrive underlined Ukraine’s ongoing dedication to “maskirovka,” the art of deception.
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