Summary Czech company unveils F-16 inflatable decoy with Ukrainian markings. Ukraine acquiring various decoys to protect its F-16s from Russians. Decoys, including tanks and aircraft, used in Ukrainian battlespace to confuse enemies.
A blow-up inflatable F-16 Fighting Falcon made in the Czech Republic has appeared on social media. Since the beginning of war, a central tenement has always been deception. For thousands of years, armies and warrior bands before them have sought to deceive their enemies by luring them into traps, making themselves look bigger, and more.
In modern war little has changed (it's just more sophisticated). Ukraine has recently taken delivery of its first F-16s (believed to be mostly from The Netherlands) and is expected to go to lengths to protect them. A Czech blow-up F-16 fighter decoy According to The War Zone , the Czech company Inflatech has unveiled an inflatable decoy of an F-16 fighter jet wearing Ukrainian Air Force markings.
Time will tell if the decoy is convincing enough to fool the Russians hunting the F-16s. Inflatech is known to already be providing Kyiv with decoys of various other types of military equipment. They already make decoys for Su-27 Flankers and Su-30 Flanker derivatives.
"This is a small sample of the portfolio of decoys we have in our lineup: AS90, BM-30 SMERCH, BMP-2, BMP-3, BTR-80, CAESAR 6x6, CHALLENGER 2, CSS-5, F-16, FV107, K9 THUNDER, LEOPARD 2A4, M1 ABRAMS, M142 HIMARS, M270 MLRS, M-60, PANTSIR-S1, PATRIOT, SA-15, S.