A dummy M1 Abrams tank during a presentation in Decin (Czech Republic), March 6, 2023. MICHAL CIZEK / AFP
Two seamstresses are busy at their machine joining shapeless sections of gray-green nylon. It’s hard to imagine that once sewn together, these pieces of fabric will form the frame of a fake but very similar SA-8, a Russian anti-aircraft vehicle. This life-size specimen, which can be inflated in a few minutes, can serve as a target for training Western forces, but also as a decoy to deceive enemy artillery. A crucial maneuver by the Ukrainian army in the face of Russian bombing.
The activity takes place in the Czech Republic in a small factory of the Inflatech company in Decin, a town on the German border in the north-west of this Central European country. If the The premises’ owner, Viktor Talanov, refuses to confirm that he works for the Ukrainian army, admitting with a dash of black humor: “Putin did good marketing for us, we doubled our sales in 2022.”
“Highly Qualified Seamstresses”
With its brand new production unit installed behind the tinted windows of an old supermarket, the company, which employs around 25 people, including several Ukrainian women, is taking full advantage of the boom in the very unique market for military decoys. It offers about thirty inflatable models, such as the SA-8 or T-72 tank replicas, all designed on the computer, then printed in spare parts and sewn by a “team of highly skilled seamstresses capable of making plans to read”. form of a diagram,” says Talanov.
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Although this technology was thought to date back to WWII and the famous Operation Fortitude, conducted by the Allies on British territory to fool the Nazis at the landing site, Mr. Talanov ensures his products are more relevant than ever . “They cost around 25,000 euros, which is a lot cheaper than a real tank and even an anti-tank missile, you’re definitely a winner there,” he boasts. According to him, “decoys are the best way to improve frontline vehicle survivability.”
“One of the operational scenarios proposed by his company” can be summarized as follows: “You receive a warning about the presence of an enemy artillery system. In five minutes you can hide your tanks and replace them with our decoys, which will then be bombed. “Packaged in two large black packages of around 40 kilos each, the lure and the inflator – depending on the model with electric or thermal motor – “can be opened and closed by one or two people,” he assures. Inflatech even supplied an air heating and reflector system to trick thermal imaging cameras and radars at night.
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