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, SA-17, SA-19 GRISON, SA-21, SA-6 GAINFUL, SA-8, SIMPLE TANK, SU-27, SU-30, T-72, T-80, T-90, TATRA STARKOM, UH-60" - Inflatech The F-16 inflatable decoy was shown at the Industry Days defense exhibition in Demark. The exhibition was organized by the Danish Ministry of Defense Acquisition and Logistics Organization (DALO). It would be a safe assumption that Ukraine will be acquiring various F-16 decoys to protect its fleet - even decommissioned and gutted F-16 airframes could be used as decoys.
Ukraine's F-16s appear configured for air defense and have a number of self-defense systems installed. Decoys of all types abound in Ukraine Decoys can be found all over the battlespace in Ukraine. Countless decoy tanks, trucks, IFVs, and even decoy infantry soldiers exist all along and beyond the frontlines in Ukraine.
Many times, the Russians have released footage of them striking Ukrainian military targets (including parted MiG-29s) only for open-source intelligence to debunk it as a decoy. Decoys have the advantage of not only drawing away fire from the real targets but also causing the enemy to expend finite and expensive missiles or drones to meter out their wrath on balloons or piles of wood made to look like fighter jets or other juicy targets. The Russians paint aircraft on their airbase tarmac in an apparent attempt to confuse attacking Ukrainian drones (a tactic previously used by the US in their former bases in Afghanistan).
Decoys can also be real aircraft. It has recently been rumored that the US purchased 81 old decommissioned Soviet-origin Kazakhstani fighter jets to be used as decoys for Ukraine (Kazakhstan denied the claim)..
