A Czech company producing inflatable weapon decoys including Himars rocket launchers and Abrams tanks has seen its profits soar as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues.
Although its officials have not openly said they were selling decoys to Ukraine, citing military confidentiality, its profits over the past 12 months are up 100% from a year earlier.
“We can’t tell you how many countries we sell to, we can’t tell you who we sell to,” said Poven Kumaresan, Inflatech’s director of marketing and sales. But certainly we sell to many governments around the world, not only in Europe, but also in other countries, other regions. »
The Inflatech company manufactures more than 30 models. Weapons designed to deceive the enemy use an engine that inflates and releases heat to simulate a real piece of hardware.
The company produces dozens of fake guns every month.
“If I don’t have binoculars, at a distance of 150-200 meters, it’s impossible for me to tell if it’s a real weapon or a decoy,” says Vojtech Fresser, CEO of Inflatech. If I force the enemy to destroy my product with something that is 20 times more expensive, then I win economically. »