Light Artillery Of Mother Russia

Any enemy surveillance of this site would result in the conclusion that it was a heavily-fortified area, with fighter planes ready to scramble at any moment. But look closer...

They are inflatable decoys

Russian balloon maker Rusbal is working on an order from the country's defence ministry to supply full-scale inflatable models of weapons, armoured vehicles and other military hardware

Even from a short distance away, the fake military hardware looks just like the real thing. The models are used on battlefield positions to protect Russian strategic installations from the eagle eyes of surveillance satellites. Their main task is to distract attention and protect real combat units from strikes

The models are lightweight and can be inflated and secured to the ground within minutes

These balloons give a new meaning to the phrase "light artillery"

Decoys have been used by the military forces of many countries for years, but Rusbal claim that their balloons can fool even thermal and infra-red imaging surveiilance