Reactive trickery - Czech Republic makes rubber M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS for Ukrainian Armed Forces that mislead the enemy
The russian defence ministry has destroyed more M142 HIMARS and M270 MLRS missile systems in six months than Ukraine has received. The secret seems to have been revealed.
Here's What We Know
In the Czech Republic, TV showed a story about a local company producing the M270 MLRS rubber-bowl multiple rocket launcher systems and the M142 HIMARS highly mobile artillery rocket systems. They are used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to deceive the enemy.
Czech TV @ReporteriCT: Czech ???????? production of inflatable decoys HIMARS, which are delivered to Ukraine ????????
- Tarmo ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????? NAFO ???? (@TarmoFella) February 22, 2023
(English subtitles added) pic.twitter.com/wiyKTjCRSK
A spokesman for the Czech company said that production capacity currently allows for the production of 35 decoys per month. However, he refused to say how many inflatable missile systems had been shipped to Ukraine. He added that the cost per mock-up is about $20,000, four times cheaper than the Javelin missiles.
Decoys of HIMARS MRLS and M777 howitzers. Pay attention to the work of the decorator who even scattered spent shell casings and other rubbish around to make the target seem more realistic, a real artistic approach ???? pic.twitter.com/TRO0rnHPxz
- Special Kherson Cat ???????????? (@bayraktar_1love) February 22, 2023
Note that the inflatable M142 HIMARS or M270 MLRS has a uniform temperature when viewed through a thermal imager. In real missile systems the wheels/tracks temperature is different from the launcher etc. It is unclear how this affects the effectiveness of the mockups.
Source: @TarmoFella
