I was about go to bed... and I saw this article. Apparently Russia is/has made a bunch of inflatable copies of tanks, vehicles, and other sorts of military equipment that is able to take deception to a new level that seems both effective and very cheap to do:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11511886
The Russian military has come up with an inventive way to deceive the enemy and save money at the same time: inflatable weapons.
They look just like real ones: they are easy to transport and quick to deploy.
You name it, the Russian army is blowing it up: from pretend tanks to entire radar stations.
The decoys are a hundred times cheaper than the real thing, which means Moscow will save a lot of money by blowing up its own weapons.
On the edge of Moscow, two men carry a black duffle bag into a field, then drop it on the ground.
When they open the bag, they take out a large sheet of plastic. It looks like a tent or a tarpaulin.
In fact, it's the Russian army's latest strategic weapon. It doesn't need ammunition - just air.
On goes the pump, in goes the air and the plastic sheet begins to rise and take shape.
A turret appears, then out pops a long plastic gun barrel. This is an inflatable Russian tank.
State-of-the-art
When the men pump up their next piece of plastic, this one expands into a S-300 rocket launcher, complete with giant truck and inflatable rockets. It is a cross between a ballistic missile and a bouncy castle.
And waiting to be blown up are inflatable MiG fighter jets - even entire Russian radar stations.
These state-of-the-art stand-ins are among the most advanced military decoys in the world.
What they lack in firepower, they make up for in flexibility: they are light and can be deployed quickly to deceive the enemy.
They are also very realistic. They are made of a special material that tricks enemy radar and thermal imaging into thinking they are real weapons.
The inflatables are stitched together at a former hot-air balloon factory.
"I'm proud to be making entire rocket-launchers and tanks for our armed forces," says Lena, who is stitching a surface-to-air missile system.
"When you finish sewing them and you watch them being filled with air, it's so satisfying."
I mean, I know its not likely that Russia is going to be using this stuff in reality very much (I hope), but if they did chances are they would have their "inflatable armies" be able to trick their foes quite nicely. I think that the Allies in WW2 did this a little bit as part of the preparation to invade Normandy, but I doubt they were able to create dummies that, if this article is to be believed, can even trick radar and thermal imaging into believing that they are real. This sort of stuff just might have some real effect in the future if it ever actually ends up in a real situation.
So, what do you think? Fancy idea? A stroke of genius? Plain silly? All of the above?
Beyond epic.
When the war happens, and jets use thermal imaging to locate enemys, millions of dollars of bombs will be wasted on $500 inflaftable bouncy toys.
Hollywood special effects artists helped the Allies do that in World War 2. They created full sized inflatable tanks and jeeps that looked real until the enemy was on top of them.
I think this is completely ridiculous. I don't know who's going to fall for a bunch of fucking balloons that look vaguely like a tank. besides what happens when a spy comes in with a needle and trips and pokes a hole in one of them? Then your entire arsenal is gone once he gets done.
I think this is completely ridiculous. I don't know who's going to fall for a bunch of fucking balloons that look vaguely like a tank. besides what happens when a spy comes in with a needle and trips and pokes a hole in one of them? Then your entire arsenal is gone once he gets done.
I mean, I know its not likely that Russia is going to be using this stuff in reality very much (I hope), but if they did chances are they would have their "inflatable armies" be able to trick their foes quite nicely. I think that the Allies in WW2 did this a little bit as part of the preparation to invade Normandy, but I doubt they were able to create dummies that, if this article is to be believed, can even trick radar and thermal imaging into believing that they are real. This sort of stuff just might have some real effect in the future if it ever actually ends up in a real situation.
The Allies built a load of wooden planes and tank and parked them near Dover(I think) so German intelligence would thing we would be launching attacks into Calais rather then Normandy and it worked, so this sort of thing isn't without precident.
I have to say I'm a big fan of this idea and not just because I like Bouncy Castles
I think this is completely ridiculous. I don't know who's going to fall for a bunch of fucking balloons that look vaguely like a tank. besides what happens when a spy comes in with a needle and trips and pokes a hole in one of them? Then your entire arsenal is gone once he gets done.
I think this is completely ridiculous. I don't know who's going to fall for a bunch of fucking balloons that look vaguely like a tank. besides what happens when a spy comes in with a needle and trips and pokes a hole in one of them? Then your entire arsenal is gone once he gets done.
Did you look at the picture in the article? I don't know, maybe it was just that I knew what I was looking at but I have to say that I was in no way impressed with the Russian balloons. Their made of old hot air balloons therefore as far as I concerened they are balloons
Beyond epic.
When the war happens, and jets use thermal imaging to locate enemys, millions of dollars of bombs will be wasted on $500 inflaftable bouncy toys.
In case you didn't notice, I really like this idea.
Come on, entire radar stations that fool the world's best technology?!
You could scare the shit out of the local dickheads by inflating a tank overnight and putting it on your front lawn...
God, Australian pranking has really gotten to me (even though I've lived here for 16 years, I've never really embraced it, until now...) *cue evil laughter*
Nothing new in this. This is technology that's been around for 20 years. Its just a mylar balloon with an IR bulb in it. Fooling radar and IR sensors isn't that hard, the difficult bit is fooling the playback. Jstars ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-8_Joint_STARS ) records images so a static sight will show up.
Nothing new in this. This is technology that's been around for 20 years. Its just a mylar balloon with an IR bulb in it. Fooling radar and IR sensors isn't that hard, the difficult bit is fooling the playback. Jstars ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-8_Joint_STARS ) records images so a static sight will show up.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
