Modelling armour in Ukraine crisis

H.P.

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FN MAG in Ukrainian service

H.P.

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That second photo is reminiscent of the famous photo from WWII of German soldiers advancing through a field of sunflowers.

News report here that the Ukrainians using dummies of high value system e.g. HIMARS to lure the russians to waste their Kalibr cruise missiles. Would be interesting to see such a dummy.

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It’s not so easy to make convincing dummies these days as they have to fool sensors working with more than just visible light. You have to figure in heat sources, radar reflectivity and so on. Having said that, given most systems nowadays try to reduce their signatures just a little can be more convincing than a lot.
During the Kosovo campaign knowledgeable people rubbished rumors that the Serbs were fiddling with cheap microwave ovens so they still worked with the doors removed so they could be used as HARM bait, but there may have been other modifications and it’s probably likely any unfamiliar unidentified radiator would attract hostile attention of the destructive kind just to be sure…

Cheers,

M

Why not ? You can inflate a complete SA-8 Gecko battery if need be… :wink:

http://www.inflatechdecoy.com/fr/wp-content/uploads/DJI_0251-830x465.jpg

H.P.

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Obvoisly, they are to fool Russian UAVs that give coordinates to Russian missiles.

According to The Washington Post article, the wooden decoys are indistinguishable from the real thing to UAVs, who transmit their locations to naval cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea. After a few weeks in the field, the decoys drew at least 10 Kalibr cruise missiles. The destroyed decoys may partially account for Russia’s inflated statistics of destroyed HIMARS.

H.P.

I once watched a BMP bounce over some Northumbrian moorland, pursued by frantic military types. It was an inflatable, and given it was just a big balloon and it gets very windy up there it was inevitable something of the sort would happen when you try to simulate a complete column of military vehicles. It was at RAF Spadeadam which for years had simulated targets using old airframes and vehicles, but while these were occasionally relocated it was a real task so they mostly stayed put and the aviators became too familiar with the dispositions. The inflatable army was intended to provide a more mobile target for exercises that didn’t involve dropping things that went bang…

Regards,

M

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Ukraine demands Schützenpanzer Marder from Germany. We still have some inflatable Marders from Cold War. So it´s a win-win situation for both sides. :grin:

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ptyherhre

Was able to get up close and personal with a 2S7 Pion at the Australian Armour and Artillery Museum. You really do not appreciate how big it is, until it is right in front of you:

Danish-supplied M113G3-DK APC, fitted with an ACAV turret and a .50 Cal MG :

Ukraine 2022 or Koursk 1943 ?

H.P.

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image

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Not mutch difference…:wink:

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It’s a bit like Belgium or the Gaza Strip, by geographical misfortune somewhere two or more parties end up trying to resolve disputes by violence. Note the proximity to the current front lines of Poltava where in 1709 the Russians defeated a hitherto victorious Swedish (!!!) army who were following the standard sequence of “March on Moscow - get screwed up by the Russian Winter (a particularly nasty one 1708-09) - get ass kicked by resurgent Russians”…

Regards,

M

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H.P.

Dio idea ( based on a recycled WW2 German side-car…) ?

H.P.

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Remember those BTR pictures showing a lot cut in half for some reason, well I think I’ve found them haha. From this angle this BRDM 2A looks like a cut and shut BTR.

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That will be the same photo I just posted :wink: