Invisible Airbases and Ghost Fighters Caught on Camera
As the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv drags on, deception remains a crucial tactic for both sides.
On April 30, 2024, Open-Source Intelligence researchers made a remarkable discovery when they uncovered updated satellite images of the Mozdok Air Base in southeast Russia. The photographs, captured mere days earlier, showed several Su-24M/MR strike aircraft, Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, and more than a dozen military aircraft on and around the tarmac.
However, some of these aircraft are far from typical, their silhouettes painted in a bright shade of white, casting no shadow on the ground below. According to open intelligence sources, and quite apparent even to the untrained eye, these are decoy aircraft meticulously painted on the ground to deceive potential adversaries.
The presence of painted aircraft at Mozdok is not a new phenomenon, as reports of fake Tu-22s in the base first surfaced in January 2024. However, the addition of the Su-24 artwork is a recent development.
Mozdok is not the only Russian airfield employing this tactic. Other satellite images have revealed similar mural-like warplanes at various bases across Russia and even in the occupied Crimean peninsula since the previous year.
The objective of these decoys is big: to mislead Ukrainian drones that rely on basic cameras for image recognition of aircraft shapes.
Many say this is clear proof of Russia's increasing concern about Ukraine's growing ability to strike deeper into their territory via long-range attacks with missiles and drones.
While the use of deception and decoys has been a consistent feature throughout the war as an attempt to mislead the opposing side, Russia's aircraft paintings are not particularly convincing. Moreover, Ukraine's allies, equipped with advanced side-viewing radar equipment over the Black Sea, can effectively differentiate between real and painted aircraft, rendering the decoys much less effective than intended.
Recent satellite imagery suggests that as Ukrainian long-range strike capabilities continue to expand, Moscow will likely persist in increasing the number of decoys at Russian air bases in an effort to protect their assets and maintain an element of uncertainty.
While Moscow paints its illusions and the cat-and-mouse game of deception continues in Europe, another global power is taking its war games to a whole new level. Across the world, in the vast expanse of China's Taklamakan desert, a different kind of deception is unfolding - one that's not just two-dimensional but eerily life-like.
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