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Dummy tank

January 01, 1970

Dummy tanks superficially resemble real tanks and are often deployed as a means of military deception in the absence of real tanks. Early designs included wooden shells and inflatable props that could fool enemy intelligence; they were fragile and only believable from a distance. Modern designs are more advanced and can imitate heat signatures, making them more effective illusions.

Inflatable M47 Patton mock-up

World War I edit

During World War I, Allied forces made use of dummy versions of the British heavy tanks. These were constructed from a wooden framework and covered with painted Hessian cloth.[1] The tracks were non-functional so some were fitted with concealed wheels underneath and were towed from place to place by a pair of horses.[2] Dummy tanks, representing Allied models, were also found to have been constructed by the Germans,[3] even though they deployed only a small number of real tanks. It is possible they were used in training, rather than for military deception.

World War II edit

 
Dummy tanks, mounted on trucks, going to the forward areas in the Western Desert, 13 February 1942

Dummy tanks saw significantly more use during World War II by both the Allies and the Axis. German forces utilized mock tanks prior to the start of the war for practice and training exercises.[4][5] Their use in military deception was pioneered by British forces, who termed them "spoofs."[6]

One of the first uses of dummy tanks during the Second World War was in the North African Campaign. The Royal Engineers stationed there constructed two per day; between April and June 1941, they were able to build three dummy Royal Tank Regiments, and another in November that same year. These were foldable, and thus portable; and the Royal Engineers improved them further. Jeeps were used to make the "spoofs" more mobile: a steel frame covered with canvas was placed on them, making a self-propelled dummy tank. The Jeep did not realistically simulate the noise or movement of a tank, but allowed the dummy to be deployed quickly.[7] Meanwhile, the reverse was also done, to make tanks look like trucks. A further device was put into use that both created simulated tank tracks and erased real ones.[8]

 
An inflatable dummy tank, modeled after the M4 Sherman

Inflatable dummies consisted of a fabric covering supported by a network of pressurized rubber tubes that formed a kind of "pneumatic skeleton". These were generally preferred in the field, despite their tendency to rapidly deflate if punctured by accident or shellfire. In one operation in September 1944, the British deployed 148 inflatable tanks close to the front line and around half were "destroyed" by fragments from German mortar and artillery fire, and by Allied bombs falling short.[9]

Dummy tanks were used in Operation Fortitude prior to the landings at the Normandy Beaches. During this operation, they were used to confuse German intelligence in two ways: first, by making it seem that the Allies had more tanks than they did; and second, to hide and downplay the importance of the location of their real tanks in order to make it seem that the invasion would occur at Pas-de-Calais rather than at Normandy.[10] However, dummy vehicles played only a small part of the overall deception plan as, at that stage of the war, the Germans were unable to fly reconnaissance planes over England and such effort would have been wasted. Dummy landing craft were stationed at ports in eastern and southeastern England where they might be observed by the Germans[11][12] but the Fortitude deception was largely carried out using double agents and false radio traffic.

 
A dummy Sherman tank under construction by 6 Field Park Company, Royal Engineers, in the Anzio bridgehead, 29 April 1944.

During Operation Shingle at Anzio, Italy, inflatable Sherman tanks were deployed when the real tanks were elsewhere.[13] In the Pacific Theater of Operations, the Japanese also utilized decoys; one recorded instance was during the Battle of Iwo Jima. A "tank" was surrounded by American infantry, which had been under artillery bombardment: they found it was not real, but merely a sculpture carved out of volcanic ash.[6]

The Red Army employed dummy tanks to increase their apparent numbers and mask their true movements.[14]

Modern era edit

 
Inflatable mock-up of a T-72 tank

During the Kosovo War, the Serbian army regularly placed dummy tanks in Kosovo, which misled NATO forces into thinking that they were destroying far more tanks than they really were.[15]

The United States Army has developed a modern dummy tank. It imitates the M1 Abrams tank not only in appearance, but also in its heat signature, in order to appear real to infrared detectors. One of these decoys can take fire from the enemy and still appear to be operational, thus delaying the enemy by as much as an hour, as they are forced to destroy the decoy. These M1 decoys cost only $3,300,[16] compared to $4.35 million for a real M1.[17] The decoy is also practical: when disassembled, it weighs only 50 pounds (23 kg), and is roughly the same size as a duffel bag. Its generator—about the size of a 12 inches (30 cm) television—facilitates inflation, so that two people can erect the decoy in a few minutes.[16] Occasionally, real tanks carry a dummy on board, to deploy when needed.[18]

During the Battle of Mosul (2016–17), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant constructed and deployed wooden mockups of various vehicles in order to distract Coalition airstrikes.[19]

 
Dummy Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft truck

Dummy tanks, manufactured by the Czech company Inflatech, are also being employed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in order to waste Russian resources by attracting missile and drone attacks.[20]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ . Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  2. ^ "Britannia: The Tank that Ruled the Trenches". The War Illustrated. 1918-03-02. p. 34.
  3. ^ "H04659". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  4. ^ Habeck, Mary R. (2003). Storm of Steel: The Development of Armor Doctrine in Germany and the Soviet Union, 1919-1939. Cornell University Press. p. 85. ISBN 0-8014-4074-2.
  5. ^ McKercher, B. J. C.; Roch Legault (2001). Military Planning and the Origins of the Second World War in Europe. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 75. ISBN 0-275-96158-3.
  6. ^ a b Wagner, Margaret E.; David M. Kennedy; Linda Barret Osborne; Susan Reyburn (2007). The Library of Congress World War II Companion. Simon & Schuster. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-7432-5219-5.
  7. ^ Cruickshank, Charles (1979). Deception in World War II. Oxford University Press; Book Club ed. edition. p. 195. ISBN 0-19-215849-X.
  8. ^ Holt, Thaddeus (2004). The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War. Simon & Schuster. p. 28. ISBN 0-7432-5042-7.
  9. ^ Cruickshank, Charles (1979). Deception in World War II. Oxford University Press; Book Club ed. edition. p. 196. ISBN 0-19-215849-X.
  10. ^ Zabecki, David T. (1999). World War II in Europe: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 1118. ISBN 0-8240-7029-1.
  11. ^ Holt, Thaddeus (2004), The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War, New York: Scribner, p. 537, ISBN 0-7432-5042-7
  12. ^ Howard, Michael (1990), British Intelligence in the Second World War, Vol. 5: Strategic Deception, New York: Cambridge U. Press, p. 120, ISBN 0-11-630954-7
  13. ^ Zaloga, Steven J.; Peter Dennis (2005). Anzio 1944: The Beleaguered Beachhead. Osprey Publishing. p. 72. ISBN 1-84176-913-4.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ Glantz, David M. (1989). Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War. Routledge. p. 385. ISBN 0-7146-3347-X.
  15. ^ BBC On The Record - Broadcast: 28.10.01
  16. ^ a b Dunnigan, James F.; Albert A. Nofi (1992). Dirty Little Secrets: Military Information You're Not Supposed to Know. HarperCollins. p. 43. ISBN 0-688-11270-6.
  17. ^ "Lima Army Tank Plant (LATP)". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  18. ^ Dunnigan, p. 21.
  19. ^ Stephen Kalin (14 November 2016). "Islamic State uses wooden tanks and bearded mannequins in decoy attempts". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  20. ^ "How Ukraine is using fake tanks and guns to confuse the Russians". The Economist. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mock-ups of tanks.

January 01, 1970
dummy, tank, superficially, resemble, real, tanks, often, deployed, means, military, deception, absence, real, tanks, early, designs, included, wooden, shells, inflatable, props, that, could, fool, enemy, intelligence, they, were, fragile, only, believable, fr. Dummy tanks superficially resemble real tanks and are often deployed as a means of military deception in the absence of real tanks Early designs included wooden shells and inflatable props that could fool enemy intelligence they were fragile and only believable from a distance Modern designs are more advanced and can imitate heat signatures making them more effective illusions Inflatable M47 Patton mock up Contents 1 World War I 2 World War II 3 Modern era 4 See also 5 ReferencesWorld War I editDuring World War I Allied forces made use of dummy versions of the British heavy tanks These were constructed from a wooden framework and covered with painted Hessian cloth 1 The tracks were non functional so some were fitted with concealed wheels underneath and were towed from place to place by a pair of horses 2 Dummy tanks representing Allied models were also found to have been constructed by the Germans 3 even though they deployed only a small number of real tanks It is possible they were used in training rather than for military deception World War II edit nbsp Dummy tanks mounted on trucks going to the forward areas in the Western Desert 13 February 1942 Dummy tanks saw significantly more use during World War II by both the Allies and the Axis German forces utilized mock tanks prior to the start of the war for practice and training exercises 4 5 Their use in military deception was pioneered by British forces who termed them spoofs 6 One of the first uses of dummy tanks during the Second World War was in the North African Campaign The Royal Engineers stationed there constructed two per day between April and June 1941 they were able to build three dummy Royal Tank Regiments and another in November that same year These were foldable and thus portable and the Royal Engineers improved them further Jeeps were used to make the spoofs more mobile a steel frame covered with canvas was placed on them making a self propelled dummy tank The Jeep did not realistically simulate the noise or movement of a tank but allowed the dummy to be deployed quickly 7 Meanwhile the reverse was also done to make tanks look like trucks A further device was put into use that both created simulated tank tracks and erased real ones 8 nbsp An inflatable dummy tank modeled after the M4 Sherman Inflatable dummies consisted of a fabric covering supported by a network of pressurized rubber tubes that formed a kind of pneumatic skeleton These were generally preferred in the field despite their tendency to rapidly deflate if punctured by accident or shellfire In one operation in September 1944 the British deployed 148 inflatable tanks close to the front line and around half were destroyed by fragments from German mortar and artillery fire and by Allied bombs falling short 9 Dummy tanks were used in Operation Fortitude prior to the landings at the Normandy Beaches During this operation they were used to confuse German intelligence in two ways first by making it seem that the Allies had more tanks than they did and second to hide and downplay the importance of the location of their real tanks in order to make it seem that the invasion would occur at Pas de Calais rather than at Normandy 10 However dummy vehicles played only a small part of the overall deception plan as at that stage of the war the Germans were unable to fly reconnaissance planes over England and such effort would have been wasted Dummy landing craft were stationed at ports in eastern and southeastern England where they might be observed by the Germans 11 12 but the Fortitude deception was largely carried out using double agents and false radio traffic nbsp A dummy Sherman tank under construction by 6 Field Park Company Royal Engineers in the Anzio bridgehead 29 April 1944 During Operation Shingle at Anzio Italy inflatable Sherman tanks were deployed when the real tanks were elsewhere 13 In the Pacific Theater of Operations the Japanese also utilized decoys one recorded instance was during the Battle of Iwo Jima A tank was surrounded by American infantry which had been under artillery bombardment they found it was not real but merely a sculpture carved out of volcanic ash 6 The Red Army employed dummy tanks to increase their apparent numbers and mask their true movements 14 Modern era edit nbsp Inflatable mock up of a T 72 tank During the Kosovo War the Serbian army regularly placed dummy tanks in Kosovo which misled NATO forces into thinking that they were destroying far more tanks than they really were 15 The United States Army has developed a modern dummy tank It imitates the M1 Abrams tank not only in appearance but also in its heat signature in order to appear real to infrared detectors One of these decoys can take fire from the enemy and still appear to be operational thus delaying the enemy by as much as an hour as they are forced to destroy the decoy These M1 decoys cost only 3 300 16 compared to 4 35 million for a real M1 17 The decoy is also practical when disassembled it weighs only 50 pounds 23 kg and is roughly the same size as a duffel bag Its generator about the size of a 12 inches 30 cm television facilitates inflation so that two people can erect the decoy in a few minutes 16 Occasionally real tanks carry a dummy on board to deploy when needed 18 During the Battle of Mosul 2016 17 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant constructed and deployed wooden mockups of various vehicles in order to distract Coalition airstrikes 19 nbsp Dummy Pantsir S1 anti aircraft truck Dummy tanks manufactured by the Czech company Inflatech are also being employed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in order to waste Russian resources by attracting missile and drone attacks 20 See also editMilitary deception Military dummy Paradummy Quaker gunReferences edit E04935 Australian War Memorial Archived from the original on 22 September 2012 Retrieved 26 November 2010 Britannia The Tank that Ruled the Trenches The War Illustrated 1918 03 02 p 34 H04659 Australian War Memorial Retrieved 26 November 2010 Habeck Mary R 2003 Storm of Steel The Development of Armor Doctrine in Germany and the Soviet Union 1919 1939 Cornell University Press p 85 ISBN 0 8014 4074 2 McKercher B J C Roch Legault 2001 Military Planning and the Origins of the Second World War in Europe Greenwood Publishing Group p 75 ISBN 0 275 96158 3 a b Wagner Margaret E David M Kennedy Linda Barret Osborne Susan Reyburn 2007 The Library of Congress World War II Companion Simon amp Schuster p 355 ISBN 978 0 7432 5219 5 Cruickshank Charles 1979 Deception in World War II Oxford University Press Book Club ed edition p 195 ISBN 0 19 215849 X Holt Thaddeus 2004 The Deceivers Allied Military Deception in the Second World War Simon amp Schuster p 28 ISBN 0 7432 5042 7 Cruickshank Charles 1979 Deception in World War II Oxford University Press Book Club ed edition p 196 ISBN 0 19 215849 X Zabecki David T 1999 World War II in Europe An Encyclopedia Taylor amp Francis p 1118 ISBN 0 8240 7029 1 Holt Thaddeus 2004 The Deceivers Allied Military Deception in the Second World War New York Scribner p 537 ISBN 0 7432 5042 7 Howard Michael 1990 British Intelligence in the Second World War Vol 5 Strategic Deception New York Cambridge U Press p 120 ISBN 0 11 630954 7 Zaloga Steven J Peter Dennis 2005 Anzio 1944 The Beleaguered Beachhead Osprey Publishing p 72 ISBN 1 84176 913 4 permanent dead link Glantz David M 1989 Soviet Military Deception in the Second World War Routledge p 385 ISBN 0 7146 3347 X BBC On The Record Broadcast 28 10 01 a b Dunnigan James F Albert A Nofi 1992 Dirty Little Secrets Military Information You re Not Supposed to Know HarperCollins p 43 ISBN 0 688 11270 6 Lima Army Tank Plant LATP Globalsecurity org Retrieved 2008 05 27 Dunnigan p 21 Stephen Kalin 14 November 2016 Islamic State uses wooden tanks and bearded mannequins in decoy attempts Reuters Retrieved 4 October 2020 How Ukraine is using fake tanks and guns to confuse the Russians The Economist 17 April 2023 Retrieved 23 June 2023 nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mock ups of tanks Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Dummy tank amp oldid 1218225059, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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