(Tea Party PAC) – If you do an in-depth study of warfare throughout history, it becomes clear relatively early on that one of the most effective tactics to employ is that of deception. There’s even a quote from the classic Sun Tzu work, “The Art of War,” which says that “All warfare is based in deception.”
And this little nugget of wisdom is put on full display in our own day and age in the current invasion of Ukraine by Russia, with the brand new discovery of a dangerous deception.
According to The Western Journal, Russia has been using short-range ballistic missiles to help combat Ukrainian air defenses that launch decoy munitions while they carry their own payloads.
A report from The New York Times says this new innovation has left Western observers stunned.
“Identifying the 16-inch long, dart-shaped objects recovered in Ukraine as part of a decoy system solved a mystery that began shortly after the invasion started in late February. At first, the strange recovered munitions were puzzling, as demonstrated in a Twitter post by CAT-UXO, a site identified by the Times as intended for ‘military and civilian bomb disposal experts,'” the report said.
This is an unidentified munition currently being found in Ukraine. At the moment an official identification has not been made. Any additional images, technical information or identification is very much appreciated: https://t.co/dtWwdIJaV3 pic.twitter.com/p2lWFeljYd
— CAT-UXO (@CAT_UXO) March 5, 2022
“As reported by the U.K. Daily Mail, missile decoys are known in military jargon as ‘penetration aids,’ or PENAIDs, and were developed during the Cold War,” the WJ report continued.
“According to The Drive, an automotive website with extensive coverage of military matters, PENAIDS were originally deployed on long-range missiles carrying nuclear warheads. They were created in response to the development of anti-missile defense systems,” The Western Journal said.
The idea behind the PENAIDS is to try and overwhelm enemy air defenses with several potential threats while the real devices actually have a better chance of hitting their intended targets.
Where Russia has taking things to the next level with these weapons has been to add the decoys to their short-range Iskander-M missiles, according to the Times report, which went on to say, “The incorporation of the devices into weapons like the Iskander-M that have conventional warheads has not been previously documented in military arsenals.”
It’s also important to point out that these “short-range” weapons still manage to have a range of 310 miles.
These rockets are fired off from mobile launches, which helps to increase their reach and makes them even more unpredictable. The Daily Mail and The Drive have reported that some of these Iskander-M missiles were launched into Ukraine from Belarus, which is a Russia-friendly country.
“The decoys launch when the Iskander-M detects it has been targeted by air defense systems, according to The Times. Iskander-Ms were already hard to defend against, as the highly elusive missiles fly at a low trajectory. The PENAIDS add multiple ways for them to counter antimissile systems,” the report stated.
“In the Daily Mail report, Michael Duitsman, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, explained three ways PENAIDs can work,” the WJ report stated.
“As physical objects, they clutter up radar. They can use flares to create hotspots for heat-seeking weapons. Electronically, they can transmit signals disrupting radar and other electronics,” WJ reported.
Duitsman then said that “the Iskander-M PENAID does all three.”
Professor Jeffrey Lewis, who works as a non-proliferation expert at the James Martin Center, stated that he believes he identified how the missiles are able to release the decoys.
The Iskander can release PENAIDS from six ports in the base of the missile. You can see the ports in this image — they are the big circles around the base on this training dummy. pic.twitter.com/uie74C6Zbe
— Dr. Jeffrey Lewis (@ArmsControlWonk) March 15, 2022
“Lewis told the Times that Russia has now given away a secret of its military abilities because the Russian military has to know that the missiles will be studied by Western experts to devise effective countermeasures,” the Western Journal said.
We have to hope that’s the case. As of now, Ukraine has not been able to come up with an effective way to counter these missiles. It’s not known how much of the failure is due to Russia’s use of the PENAID.
Something that makes these missiles even more terrifying is the fact that they can be fitted with nuclear warheads. Just one of these missiles launched into Ukraine would result in catastrophic results.
Many nations around the world have applied pressure to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he has ignored it all and pushed forward with his invasion.
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