The Czech factory manufactures inflatable tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

A Czech factory is producing inflatable fake tanks and missile systems for the Ukrainian military, which are targeted by enemy artillery fire. This information was reported by Euronews.

Two seamstresses work at sewing machines, stitching together shapeless strips of gray-green nylon. It's hard to imagine that when these fabric pieces are stitched together, they create the frame of a fake but highly realistic Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile system. This life-sized replica, which can be inflated in just a few minutes, can be used as a training target for Western forces but also as a decoy to deceive enemy artillery. It is a vital device for the Ukrainian army in the face of Russian shelling.

These inflatable decoys are manufactured in the Czech Republic, at a small factory owned by the company Inflatech, located in the city of Děčín on the border with Germany. While the factory's director, Viktor Talanov, refused to confirm that they work for the Ukrainian army, he humorously remarked, "Putin gave us good marketing, we doubled our sales in 2022." Using their new production unit, situated behind the tinted windows of a former supermarket, the company, which employs about 25 people, including several Ukrainians, is taking full advantage of the boom in the unusual market for military decoys. They offer approximately 30 inflatable models, such as imitations of the S-300 missile system and the T-72 tank, which are designed on a computer, printed in separate parts, and sewn together by a "team of highly skilled seamstresses capable of reading plans in diagram form," explained Talanov.

While this technology was thought to belong to the past, Talanov maintains that his products are more relevant than ever. "They cost around €25,000, which is a lot less than a real tank or even an anti-tank missile, so you win either way," he said. In his opinion, "decoys are the best way to improve the survival time of vehicles on the front line."

One of the use cases suggested by his company is summarized as follows: "You receive an alert about the presence of an enemy artillery system. Within five minutes, you can hide your tanks and replace them with our decoys that will be bombarded." Packaged in two large black packages weighing around 40 kilos each, the decoy and inflator – electrically or thermally powered, depending on the model – "can be unfolded and folded by one or two people," the company assured. Inflatech has even included an air heating and reflector system to fool nighttime thermal imaging cameras and radar.