Czech Firm’s Fake HIMARS Tanks Market Booms

As Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, Inflatech Decoys, a Czech maker of fake army equipment, has added US-made high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to its fleet of over 30 types of inflatable real-size decoys. The decoys are made out of synthetic silk and, apart from misleading the adversary visually, have a thermal footprint and appear on radars to fool enemy reconnaissance. They pack into sacks that two to four soldiers can carry, and can be inflated within 10 minutes. The HIMARS inflatable top, without the heat generator and compressor equipment, weighs 43kg. The decoys cost from $10,000 to $100,000. Inflatech has seen its business boom over the past year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, raising production to dozens of decoys per month, and sees big growth this year – in tens and maybe more than 100 percent.