Ukraine is reportedly using wooden decoys of advanced US rocket systems to trick Russia into wasting its missiles on them.
According to The Washington Post, the decoy versions of US-supplied rocket launcher systems drew at least 10 Russian Kalibr cruise missiles, leading Ukraine to further boost its production of replicas, in an effort to lure Moscow into firing its expensive long-range missiles on fake targets.
“When the UAVs see the battery, it’s like a VIP target,” a senior Ukrainian official told the Washington Post newspaper, referring to the Russian drones that spot the long-range artillery replicas, transmitting the location of the dummy targets to its naval cruise missiles.
The Washington Post said its report was based on interviews with senior US and Ukrainian officials as well as photographs of the replicas reviewed by the paper.
Since the start of the war, Russia has repeatedly boasted that it destroyed many US-made missiles, including the long-range Himars missile systems, claims that the US has described as “patently false”.
“They’ve claimed to have hit more Himars than we have even sent,” one US diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Washington Post.
Experts say that western-supplied rocket systems have been crucial in Ukraine’s successes in halting Russian forces, and the latest report appears to further highlight some of the ways Ukraine has sought to safeguard its western-supplied weapons.
Ukraine has used US-supplied weapons to strike Russian arms depots and supply lines, slowing down Moscow’s offensive in the eastern Donbas region. The weapons are also deemed vital in Kyiv’s long-awaited counteroffensive aimed at retaking the southern province of Kherson.
Russia does not disclose information about its stockpile of precision-guided missiles in Ukraine. Ukrainian intelligence last week reported that Russia had “at most 45% of its missiles remaining”, while a senior US official said Moscow’s missile stockpiles had gone down appreciably, adding that sanctions would make it harder for Russia to replenish its expensive high-end missiles.
The purported use of rocket system decoys also points to Ukraine’s readiness to use unorthodox tactics in its fight against an army that outguns it on the battlefield.
The New York Times on Monday reported that some of Ukraine’s biggest military successes were achieved by employing the weapons at their disposal in unexpected ways, including mounting missiles on to trucks and putting rocket systems on speedboats.
