Russia is tricked into wasting expensive robots on fake wooden targets

It looks like dreaded weapon systems from the West.

But those are just wooden decoys.

With ingenious warfare, Ukraine tricks Russian forces into sacrificing expensive long-range robots.

Russia must be a stronger armed power than Ukraine. But on the battlefield, the Russian war machine has hardly made a name for itself for finesse or efficiency.

Ukraine, on the other hand, has an odd tool in its arsenal. Namely, a fleet of wooden decoys representing the US artillery system HIMARS.

Using its fake models, Ukraine has tricked Russia into wasting expensive long-range robots knocking out fake wooden targets.

It reports Washington Post who reviewed images and interviewed sources within the US and Ukrainian military.

Expensive naval targeting robots

Ukraine’s HIMARS, delivered from the US, have caused heavy losses on the Russian side. In other words, they are desirable targets to hit for the Russian military.

Through the camera lens of a Russian drone, a wooden decoy can be difficult to distinguish from a real artillery battery on the ground. If the enemy swallows the bait, the drone sends the coordinates to the navy on the Black Sea – which presses the fire button.

After only a few weeks on the battlefield, Russia had wasted at least ten long-range Kalibr missiles on Ukrainian decoys, sources told Washington Post.

Since then, Ukraine has acquired more wooden dummies.

“Meet more than we sent”

Using dummies representing military targets is a proven war tactic. The Russians call it “maskirovka” and have themselves used inflatable fighters of the MiG-31 type to deceive the enemy.

According to the Pentagon, 16 copies of the HIMARS weapon system have been sent to Ukraine. Periodically, Russia sends out war propaganda about successful operations in which HIMARS are destroyed.

– They claim that they have met more HIMARS than we have sent, adds an American diplomat Washington Post.