The US Air Force may have expanded its fleet of training targets, adding a detailed mockup of the latest Russian anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) 9K317M Buk-M3. A copy of the launcher was spotted being transported on a highway in Alabama.
Judging by the footage on social networks, the mockup is very detailed and painted in standard European camouflage.
The characteristic wheeled chassis instead of a tracked one reveals the imitation only upon careful examination.
Defence Blog noted that the US Armed Forces often use such mockups to simulate systems during exercises, allowing pilots and ground units to train against realistic visual targets.
Last fall, during the Resolute Hunter 26-1 exercises of the US Marine Corps in Nevada, S-300 SAM mockups appeared. The photograph captured simulators of a radar station and a launcher.