Russian military personnel used decoy aircraft during the large-scale joint exercises with Belarus, "Zapad-2025." One of these "traps" in the form of an inflatable Su-57 was spotted on a video, allegedly filmed at an airfield in the Murmansk region. This was written by military expert Peter Suchiu in an article for The National Interest.
Suchiu referred to military analyst Guy Plopsky, who studied a video distributed by the Russian Ministry of Defense. According to him, the published footage shows a Russian Su-33 carrier-based fighter taxiing onto the runway of the Severomorsk-1 airfield in the Murmansk region.
The Su-33 is armed with two R-73K missiles and two R-27R air-to-air missiles. Note the inflatable decoy resembling a Flanker Su-27 in the background.
Based on this, Suchiu concluded that not all aircraft involved in the maneuvers were combat aircraft.
It is unclear whether the Russian imitation was deployed at the Severomorsk-1 airfield as part of the Zapad-2025 exercises, or whether it was placed there to show that the Russian Aerospace Forces have many aircraft at their disposal. Perhaps Russia wanted to mislead Western observers about its military power.
About the Zapad-2025 Exercises
The Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 exercises took place from September 12 to 16 at 41 training grounds. They involved military personnel from various countries around the world, including Burkina Faso, Congo, Mali, Iran, Niger, Tajikistan, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Serbia, the UAE, Uzbekistan, and others.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a visit to the Mulino training ground in the Nizhny Novgorod region, named the goal of these maneuvers. According to him, the military personnel needed to "work out all the necessary elements for the unconditional protection of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and protection against any aggression of the Union State."
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