Russian Army Upgrades Its Inflatable Weapons

jamax writes "According to the BBC: '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.' But the interesting thing is these decoys are not dumb - actually they appear to be highly advanced for what I thought was a WWII-grade aerial photography countermeasures. Apparently they have heat signatures comparable with the military tech they represent, as well as the same radar signature."

So...

[the_one_wesp]

This is kinda like when I used to create decals of myself and spray them all around the Counter Strike maps.

Better still

[pablo_max]

Inflate them with poison gas. Then, it really is a weapon. Without, isnt really just an inflatable replica and not a weapon?

"Quaker guns"

[tibbetts]

The Confederates did something like this in the early days of the US Civil War--they painted logs to look like cannons, and they often succeeded in fooling Union surveillance. Why "Quaker" guns? Because the Quakers were (and are) avowed pacifists (except for the one who was elected President of the US). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_Gun [wikipedia.org]

Essentially WW2 tech

[Anonymous Coward]

With the addition of aluminised foil and a couple of appropriately applied electric blankets.

Given the nature of modern surveillance techniques, I would have thought a thicket of missile launchers "popping up" in a new location, without any movement provenance would raise suspicions, even given US military ham-handedness [bbc.co.uk].

I hope the units tasked with deploying these assets have plenty of puncture kits.....

Re:Better still

[JWSmythe]

    That's only one up to the better hiding spots, the highways.

    There was an article not long ago about the DoD was transporting something secret. They opted to use plain white trailers on regular tractor trailer rigs. They'd load one up, and send a dozen or so trucks out at the same time from what was already a busy location.

    The problem with doing something like SAMs (or worse, the Minuteman's) would be that they would be a huge problem if there were an accident. But as far as targets go, how many tractor trailers are on or off the road?

    But, isn't masquerading military forces as civilians against some pesky rule of war?

Re:Better still

[sumdumass]

Your statement is generally true with an exception. I used to drive truck and got one of these loads (probably a decoy load). I wnet through a scale house and got poped for a random inspection and they wanted to open the cargo doors. I called the 800 number to declare the seal was being broken and before I got off the phone about 4 black SUVs entered the parking lot and stopped the inspection. Of course they claimed they were looking from something in another truck and required all the resorces of the DOT officers, but I suspected it was something different as the weight on the Bill of lading didn't seem to match the weight that was in the trailer.

As for the rules of war, Well they only apply once you are in an actual war. We wouldn't technically be in a war until invaded or congress declared war and the battlefield came to the homeland. Once war broke out in the area, then the rules of war would apply.

It's one of those depends on what the meaning of "is" is things.