Ukraine is using fake rocket launchers made of wood to get Russia to waste its missiles on useless

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

targets, report says

Ukraine is firing wooden decoys made to look like rocket launchers to trick Russia into wasting its missiles on them, The Washington Post reported.

The decoys are made of wood but look like advanced US rocket launchers when spotted by Russia's drones, The Post reported.

The drones then send the location of the dummy launchers to Russia's cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea, prompting the carriers to fire — but on useless targets, The Post reported.

The Post said its report was based on interviews with interviews with senior US and Ukrainian officials. The Post said it has also seen photos of the wooden decoy.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ukraine-is-using-fake-rocket-launchers-made-of-wood-to-get-russia-to-waste-its-missiles-on-useless-targets-report-says/ar-AA11gULZ

Deception is a big part of warfare.

[SWBTATTReg]

1. Man, these people are taking the Russians right and left! I hope that everyone on our side is

watching and learning. So much for the vaunted Russian Army, eh? Putin knows how to mouth off but when push comes to shove, he's full of it.

[thecrow]

2. Do they think the Russians aren't reading the news in America?

It’s a great idea but I don’t think they should broadcast it.

[NYC Liberal]

6. Depends on how good the fakes are.

If the drones really can’t tell the difference then it won’t matter. Some are real, some are fake, they’d still have to figure out which is which.

[Buckeyeblue]

7. It'll make them question every decision. I like it.

It seems like Putin is not very strategic. The Russians miscalculated both the Ukrainian resove and the world's response. They can't back down. It's about hubris now--the same thing that kept us in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan for too damn long.

It's going to be winter soon. I can't imagine Putin has a plan to keep his troops warm.

[Thomas Hurt]

3. Operation Fortitude Redux

[mitch96]

15. Ahhh yes, the Allies "Ghost Army" to fool the nazi into thinking the attack was gonna be in Calias.

https://www.livescience.com/wwii-ghost-army.html

[Sneederbunk]

4. Quaker Guns.

[Sympthsical]

5. Quaker guns

A Quaker gun is a deception tactic that was commonly used in warfare during the 18th and 19th centuries. Although resembling an actual cannon, the Quaker gun was simply a wooden log, usually painted black, used to deceive an enemy. Misleading the enemy as to the strength of an emplacement was an effective delaying tactic. The name derives from the Religious Society of Friends or "Quakers", who have traditionally held a religious opposition to war and violence in the Peace Testimony.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_gun

The most famous use in American warfare is probably when Confederate General Johnston used them to keep the Union at bay in Centreville while his army retreated. McClellan was terrified of those logs. When Lincoln found out, he was very close to apoplectic.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

8. Beat me to it with "Quaker guns"

So instead I'll share photos of Putin's attempt at "deception" earlier in this conflict, where the Russians lined up styrofoam "airplanes" on runways.

Unfortunately, Russian quality control being what it is, these dummies didn't hold together.

Actual photo:

[dalton99a]

11. +1

[crickets]

9. Brilliant. 💙💛

[Hermit-The-Prog]

10. Like our inflatable tanks of WWII.

[lame54]

12. Report? - some things should stay secret

[IA8IT]

17. +++

[mopinko]

13. they fell for potemkin weapons?

i'm dead.

[Torchlight]

14. Moscow's stock of munitions will be a growing concern

in the face of the late-summer Ukrainian counter-offensives. Munition still available to them are having difficulty in river-crossings due to pin-point shelling and rocket attacks by Kiev.

(and on August 24, Washington announced a new $3bn military aid to Ukraine - the single largest package since Russia's invasion - including anti-aircraft missiles, artillery, counter-drone defenses and radar equipment)

[Happy Hoosier]

16. Ya know those companies that make inflatable decorations for Halloween and Christmas?

Did you know they also make inflatable tanks, air defense systems, etc?

Thety are used primarily for training, but can also be used as decoys. Some even have little heaters to make than have a thermal signature similar ot the real deal.

We should ship them thousands of these things.

Here's one such company:

https://www.inflatechdecoy.com/

[Just A Box Of Rain]

18. Absolutely! The value of decoys is not to be underestimated.

Every cruise missile that Putin's forces waste (and can not replace) depletes their capacities.

Same with other munitions.

Meanwhile Ukraine is being supplied with precision guided weapons and has a mix of their own intelligence gathering capabilities and friendly countries with eyes-in-the skies providing them real-time targeting information.

[Crunchy Frog]

19. This is what that story reminds me of.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. Gotta love the Ukrainians. Doin' it!!!!

US did this in World War II with tanks and other decoys. I think I recall the Brits had whole decoy villages to throw off German bombers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dummy_tank

This is remarkably detailed and realistic inflatable tank.