Remember Those Inflatable Tanks: Remember all the inflatable weapons that were on display in England before D-Day - to fool the Nazis? The Ukrainians did something similar. They built...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Remember all the inflatable weapons that were on display in England before D-Day - to fool the Nazis? The Ukrainians did something similar. They built wooded replicas of a sophisticated weapons system the US gave to Ukraine. The Russians wasted lots of expensive Kalibr missiles destroying them. They claim to have destroyed more than we gave to Ukraine.

When I read about this, I thought it was too bad that the news leaked out, but I think it's a good thing. Since the Russians know that they have been destroying plywood models, they'll probably stop shooting at what may or may not be the actual weapons.

fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH

I don't know. If the Russians were being fooled, they might have continued to waste their rockets. Now, thanks the media, they'll be a whole lot more careful. The various fakes the Allies used just before D-Day depended on secrecy to work. Can you imagine what would have happened if the 1944 newspapers ran stories like, "Plywood tanks ensure Nazis misled about impending invasion."

MrBossHK Loc: The West Valley of Phoenix metro area

They fell for a trick play that has been in their playbook for quite a while. Do a Google search on "Maskirovka".

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fourlocks wrote:

I don't know. If the Russians were being fooled, they might have continued to waste their rockets. Now, thanks the media, they'll be a whole lot more careful. The various fakes the Allies used just before D-Day depended on secrecy to work. Can you imagine what would have happened if the 1944 newspapers ran stories like, "Plywood tanks ensure Nazis misled about impending invasion."

Now, they might save their missiles and not destroy the weapons systems.

bw79st Loc: New York City

fourlocks wrote:

I don't know. If the Russians were being fooled, they might have continued to waste their rockets. Now, thanks the media, they'll be a whole lot more careful. The various fakes the Allies used just before D-Day depended on secrecy to work. Can you imagine what would have happened if the 1944 newspapers ran stories like, "Plywood tanks ensure Nazis misled about impending invasion."

Maybe the point of leaking this info was to get the Russians to stop using there missiles?

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

jerryc41 wrote:

Remember all the inflatable weapons that were on d... (show quote)

Love it. What ever stymies Putin and saves Ukrainian and Russian lives.

I believe Patton was in charge of the Fake Forces to confuse the Germans. He was not happy about the assignment, he wanted to Fight!

pmorin Loc: Huntington Beach, Palm Springs

It’s also probable the Russians were able to get post-action photos from one of their satellites or drones showing that the destroyed items were not real. Knowing that the jig was up, the Ukrainians used the free media to heckle and confuse the enemy. What’s real? What’s not? Can you tell the difference between the two?
Just my thoughts. 🙀
P

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

jerryc41 wrote:

Now, they might save their missiles and not destroy the weapons systems.

The prudent commanders will keep destroying them in spite of using valuable missles. There are some real ones in the mix and if you don't get them, they will get you. It is better to use missiles as long as you have them instead of having missiles or artillery guns used on you.

edwdickinson Loc: Ardmore PA

MrBossHK wrote:

They fell for a trick play that has been in their playbook for quite a while. Do a Google search on "Maskirovka".

A variation of what Washington used to escape from Brooklyn in 1776 and I think it had been used long before that.

Bmarsh Loc: Bellaire, MI

In WWII, the Germans spent a lot of time and effort building a fake airfield, with fake planes and buildings. The Brits discovered what they were doing but let them continue to completion. When it was all finished, the Brits sent a single fighter to drop a single bomb on the airfield - - - made of wood.

DRam11 Loc: Polson, MT

lamiaceae wrote:

Love it. What ever stymies Putin and saves Ukrain... (show quote)

He didn't want to fight, he wanted thousands of soldiers to fight and die. And yes, I understand the Smilies, it's hard to comprehend Patton's attitude and lack of concern for the soldiers under his command.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

DRam11 wrote:

He didn't want to fight, he wanted thousands of soldiers to fight and die. And yes, I understand the Smilies, it's hard to comprehend Patton's attitude and lack of concern for the soldiers under his command.

History teacher here. You are wrong. Patton did care about his troops' lives. It was just that he understood that he had to be willing to take casualties in order to be successful in battle while some commanders were so adverse to taking casualties that they sacrificed being effective to avoid casualties. In many cases this resulted in longer campaigns before they defeated the enemy so their lower rate of casualties spread over more time added up to just as many or more casualties in the end.

You saw the same difference between generals in the US Civil War and you had a large % who were political appointees who were just plain awful commanders who either didn't really fight at all or had the worst of both worlds, higher casualty rates spread over longer time periods.

fantom Loc: Colorado

fourlocks wrote:

I don't know. If the Russians were being fooled, they might have continued to waste their rockets. Now, thanks the media, they'll be a whole lot more careful. The various fakes the Allies used just before D-Day depended on secrecy to work. Can you imagine what would have happened if the 1944 newspapers ran stories like, "Plywood tanks ensure Nazis misled about impending invasion."

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia

Bmarsh wrote:

In WWII, the Germans spent a lot of time and effort building a fake airfield, with fake planes and buildings. The Brits discovered what they were doing but let them continue to completion. When it was all finished, the Brits sent a single fighter to drop a single bomb on the airfield - - - made of wood.

LDB415 Loc: Houston south suburb

The MSM does far more harm than good. We need to be rid of all journalists and return to having good reporters.