JAKARTA - Losing a tank or high-mobility artillery rocket (HIMARS) system made in the United States will not be too remote, if it is a clone stationed on the front lines to deceive the enemy.
With the war in Ukraine increasing the need for heavy military vehicles, weapons, and aircraft, it is also an advantage for Inflactech Decoys, the maker of advanced army equipment from the Czech Republic.
The company has added HIMARS to its fleet of more than 30 types of real-sized inflatable counterfeit vehicles it sells to customers around the world, Chief Executive Vojtech Fresser said on Monday.
Inflattech will not confirm Ukraine is one of the destinations, but Fresser said he expects them to find their way there.
"I can imagine if we want to support partner countries that are in trouble, we will send them an Inflattech inflatable, and they are already there or will definitely exist," he said.
The Czech Ministry of Defense, which helped regulate the country's military supply to Ukraine, could not be reached for comment.
The mock vehicle is made of synthetic silk. In addition to visually tricking the enemy, it also has a thermal (hot) footprint and appears on radar to trick enemy reconnaissance.
The mock vehicle is packed into sacks that can be carried by two to four soldiers, and can be inflated within 10 minutes.
"Without hot generators and compressor equipment, a mock HIMARS unit, for example, weighs about 43 kilograms," Fresser told reporters at a company factory in the northern Czech City of Decin.
The bait costs from 10,000 US dollars or around Rp. 155,030,000 to 100,000 US dollars or around Rp. 1,550,300,000
"If you lead the enemy to destroy my equipment with something four, or maybe 20 times more expensive, then you win economically," Fresser said.
Inflattech experienced its business boom over the past year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, increased production to dozens of passes per month, and saw large growth this year - in tens and possibly more than 100 percent, Fresser said.
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