Dummy tank
Dummy tanks superficially resemble real tanks and are often deployed as a means of military deception in the absence of real tanks. Early designs included wooden shells and inflatable props that could fool enemy intelligence; they were fragile and only believable from a distance. Modern designs are more advanced and can imitate heat signatures, making them more effective illusions.
World War I
During World War I, Allied forces made use of dummy versions of the British
World War II
Dummy tanks saw significantly more use during World War II by both the Allies and the Axis. German forces utilized mock tanks prior to the start of the war for practice and training exercises.[4][5] Their use in military deception was pioneered by British forces, who termed them "spoofs."[6]
One of the first uses of dummy tanks during the Second World War was in the
Inflatable dummies consisted of a fabric covering supported by a network of pressurized rubber tubes that formed a kind of "pneumatic skeleton". These were generally preferred in the field, despite their tendency to rapidly deflate if punctured by accident or shellfire. In one operation in September 1944, the British deployed 148 inflatable tanks close to the front line and around half were "destroyed" by fragments from German mortar and artillery fire, and by Allied bombs falling short.[9]
Dummy tanks were used in
During
The Red Army employed dummy tanks to increase their apparent numbers and mask their true movements.[14]
Modern era
During the Kosovo War, the Serbian army regularly placed dummy tanks in Kosovo, which misled NATO forces into thinking that they were destroying far more tanks than they really were.[15]
The United States Army has developed a modern dummy tank. It imitates the M1 Abrams tank not only in appearance, but also in its heat signature, in order to appear real to infrared detectors. One of these decoys can take fire from the enemy and still appear to be operational, thus delaying the enemy by as much as an hour, as they are forced to destroy the decoy. These M1 decoys cost only $3,300,[16] compared to $4.35 million for a real M1.[17] The decoy is also practical: when disassembled, it weighs only 50 pounds (23 kg), and is roughly the same size as a duffel bag. Its generator—about the size of a 12 inches (30 cm) television—facilitates inflation, so that two people can erect the decoy in a few minutes.[16] Occasionally, real tanks carry a dummy on board, to deploy when needed.[18]
During the
Dummy tanks, manufactured by the Czech company Inflatech, are also being employed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in order to waste Russian resources by attracting missile and drone attacks.[20]
See also
References
- ^ "E04935". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ "Britannia: The Tank that Ruled the Trenches". The War Illustrated. 1918-03-02. p. 34.
- ^ "H04659". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ISBN 0-8014-4074-2.
- ISBN 0-275-96158-3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7432-5219-5.
- ISBN 0-19-215849-X.
- ISBN 0-7432-5042-7.
- ISBN 0-19-215849-X.
- ISBN 0-8240-7029-1.
- ISBN 0-7432-5042-7
- ISBN 0-11-630954-7
- ]
- ISBN 0-7146-3347-X.
- ^ BBC On The Record - Broadcast: 28.10.01
- ^ ISBN 0-688-11270-6.
- ^ "Lima Army Tank Plant (LATP)". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ Dunnigan, p. 21.
- ^ Stephen Kalin (14 November 2016). "Islamic State uses wooden tanks and bearded mannequins in decoy attempts". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ "How Ukraine is using fake tanks and guns to confuse the Russians". The Economist. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.