They look like real military equipment, but they are actually made of old iron. A Ukrainian company manufactures fake weapons to be used on the battlefield and destroyed by Russia.
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Missiles without explosives and weapons that will never be fired. Ukraine continues to manufacture cheap replica weapons with the aim of tricking Russia into spending missiles, drones and ammunition to destroy them. In this way, Ukrainian forces protect real equipment and give up cheaper (and fake) equipment.
Metinvest is the name of the steel company that produces these fake weapons. According to The Guardian, the team Mold plastic, wood and metal and bring to life copies of the latest American and European technology, similar enough to convince Russian troops. which are true military weapons.
According to the company spokesperson, the objective of these pieces is twofold: “To save Ukrainian lives and to trick the Russians into wasting their own drones and kamikaze missiles, which are very expensive.”
After all, old Soviet tanks could be useful in the Ukrainian war.
“War is expensive and we need the Russians to spend money using drones and missiles to destroy our decoys,” he added. “After all, drones and missiles cost a lot of money. Our models are much, much cheaper.”
If a real 155 mm M777 howitzer can cost several million dollars, at Metinvest the model costs less than 1,000 dollars (about 939 euros) and is made from old sewage pipes. For Russia, destroying a real weapon and a fake one has the same cost.
Although manufacturing the replicas has not caused any problems so far, the company believes it is important to make adaptations and become more sophisticated as the war progresses. “The enemy is not stupid. We have to adapt to reality, we always add something new to our work. And we evaluate ourselves this way: if nothing happens when we send a new model, if it is not the objective, it is because we have some problem with the design,” the spokesperson explained.
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In addition to the improvements, the time spent on the ground is also important. If a replica remains on the battlefield longer than expected, the company re-studies it. The goal is for it to be destroyed quickly.
“We do not count the number of decoys produced, but rather the number of decoys destroyed, and that is the most important thing for us,” highlights the spokesperson. “The sooner they are destroyed, the better for us.”
Source: Observadora
