Various deception techniques are used by both sides in the war in Ukraine. Military dummies – fake weapons and other assets, built to provoke the enemy into wasting ammo and other resources – have been used heavily since WW2, but the war in Ukraine definitely saw an increased use of this technique. However, Russians are landing their helicopters on their jet fighters now.
Sukhoi S-30 is a twin-engine jet fighter, not a place for a helicopter to land. Image credit: Евгений Пурель via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Military decoys are usually inflatable or built from cheap construction materials. They are 3-dimensional things. In fact, old machinery that is beyond repair is often used for this purpose. However, decoys can be simply painted on concrete or asphalt. These 2-dimensional dummies cannot fool a low-flying drone or other close observation equipment, but they can trick satellite imagery.
Russia has been painting jet fighters in its airfields and ships in its docks. The idea is simple – satellite imagery will indicate the presence of certain assets. The defenders of Ukraine will send drones or cruise missiles to eliminate those assets. Once they reach the destination, it won’t matter if they figure out that it was a deception – it will be too late. Ukraine will waste its weapons and intelligence resources.
The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom noted that at least 12 Russian air bases, including the ones in the occupied Crimea, have paintings of jet fighters on asphalt or concrete. Just the very fact that the UK knows that shows that these decoys are not 100 % effective and can be distinguished from the real fighter jets quite reliably. Especially if Russia messes up its own deception tactics.
Russian helicopters have been parking on faux Su-30s and other jet fighters:
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 02 April 2024.
Find out more about Defence Intelligence’s use of language: https://t.co/VLI1JhTxbL#StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/rGi9A7DqCR
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) April 2, 2024
Helicopters don’t normally land on other aircraft, which means that images like this are a dead giveaway. However, there are other ways to figure out even the most realistic painting from a real craft.
For starters, real jets move. If a jet fighter remains stationary for long periods of time, it is fake. No one leaves such military assets just standing there doing nothing for no reason, especially not in the time of war. Secondly, fighter jets might be sleek and slim, but they are still 3-dimensional objects. They cast shadows, which change depending on the time of day. Finally, Russian drawings commonly are incorrect size as not much care is put into their photorealism.
But these kinds of decoys can be deceiving and at least waste intelligence resources. That is why a misplaced helicopter is so funny – it removed any kind of doubt if anyone would have some.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: The UK’s Ministry of Defence, Wikipedia