Decoy weapon made by Ukraine/Obtained by CNN
2023.09.12 Tue posted at 18:01 JST
(CNN) They were built with one purpose in mind: to be destroyed as quickly as possible. And the steel companies that made them boast that their decoy weapons have been a huge success. To date, the number of weapons targeted by the Russian military is in the hundreds. They say they are attacked almost immediately after being deployed.
The list of weapons goes on: Ukrainian-made D20 howitzers, American-made M777 howitzers, mortars, air defense radars. Once they are deployed and operational in Ukraine, the steel company MetInvest will produce copies. Inside a small hangar in the corner of a large industrial site in central Ukraine. The sight of replicas of American and European weapons equipped with the latest technology is sure to leave a strong impression on viewers.
MetoInvest is making replicas of various modern Western weapons/Obtained by CNN
Before the war, Metinvest was Ukraine’s largest steel group, but it was not involved in the production of weapons. A company spokesperson made the announcement anonymously. The only ones still in production today are replicas used as decoys, and while they look exactly like the real thing, their range is not set and they do not come with a hefty price tag.
The replica has a dual purpose, a spokesperson said. It is about protecting the lives of Ukrainians and deceiving the Russian military into wasting its own extremely expensive suicide drones, artillery shells, and missiles.
These decoy weapons, which are supposed to be seen as targets to attack from the air, are made from cheap plywood and metal. Plywood alone does not generate enough heat to fool Russian military heat-seeking radars and drones.
The spokesperson emphasized that the company’s models are significantly cheaper than the Russian military’s drones and missiles.
For example, the actual M777 howitzer costs several million dollars, but the MetInvest version costs less than $1,000. This is because they can be made by simply modifying old sewage pipes. Still, it would cost Russia just as much to destroy one with a drone as it would with the real thing. That’s the important point.
If it remains on the battlefield too long, the company’s designers will have to re-develop it.As a result, a large number of various fake weapons have been produced.
At the beginning of the war, the decoy weapons were crude. However, as the war continued and more sophisticated weapons arrived from outside Ukraine, the replicas MetInvest created also became more sophisticated.
The real test of decoys is how long they remain on the battlefield.
“We don’t count how many decoys we make, we count how many of them are destroyed. This is important to us.” “The sooner they are destroyed, the better.” (Public Relations Officer)
Hundreds have been destroyed so far, but the company says it is struggling to meet demand from the military. The spokesperson presented photos of decoy weapons in various states on the battlefield.
One final photo he was especially proud of showed a life-sized doll of Russian President Vladimir Putin hanging from a tree somewhere in Ukraine. It was made by a company employee, a spokesperson said with satisfaction.
Decoy weapons used by Ukraine
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2023-09-12 09:01:00
