UK's inflatable tanks and decoys bolster Ukraine's defense strategy
Besides weapons, the United Kingdom is providing Ukraine with numerous IKEA-style assembly kits. We explain why artificial tanks, self-propelled howitzers, and anti-aircraft systems are very important.
According to the portal The Times, the United Kingdom is delivering a significant number of "do-it-yourself" replicas to Ukraine. Lowri Simner, an RAF squadron commander, stated that they have not given Ukraine a huge amount of equipment, so anything they can do to make those numbers seem larger on the front line is beneficial for them.
Armored replicas from the UK like IKEA furniture
This mainly refers to Challenger 2 tanks, AS90 self-propelled howitzers, or anti-aircraft systems based on ASRAAM missiles. Additionally, Simner mentioned that the Ministry of Defense team, designated as "Taskforce Kindred," has been tasked with developing better next-generation replicas capable of deceiving satellites since, for example, inflatable tanks from the World War II era are ineffective.
The "Taskforce Kindred" team first makes digital scans of the equipment and then produces replicas using 3D printing. These IKEA-style Challenger 2 tank replicas are then assembled on-site in Ukraine. Replicas, which take no more than a few hours to assemble, are practically indistinguishable from the original from even 82 feet away.
Moreover, Simner noted that for every five real tanks delivered, there might be as many as 30 decoys, and remember, replica deliveries are ongoing.
Replicas in war — saving lives and equipment worth millions of dollars
Ukraine continues the history of conflicts showing that replicas still play a very important role. Ukrainians are massively using wooden replicas that are remarkably similar to real systems, which is a very effective method in the case of drones with daytime cameras. The Russians have often wasted valuable weapons on replicas of the IRIS-T SLM system, AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar, or F-16 aircraft, ensuring the originals remain safe.
Particularly problematic for Ukrainians are Iskander-M ballistic missiles or Kh-22 supersonic cruise missiles, against which only medium-range anti-aircraft systems can defend, and Ukraine has too few of these to protect key facilities. In such circumstances, using replicas to force the Russians to use missiles—which they also produce in insufficient quantities—is very sensible.
Additionally, Ukrainians add barrels of fuel to the replicas to reinforce the impression of a successful attack by the Russians if hit. This leads to Russian reports of destroying M142 HIMARS systems in numbers exceeding all the ones delivered to Ukraine.
