For over a year and a half, Metinvest's craftsmen have been making copies of radar stations and artillery pieces from plastic, plywood, foam, and metal. Ukrainian howitzer D-20, American M777, PPO radars, and numerous other "equipment" have joined the substantial support package for the army from the company.
"We want the Russians to spend money using equipment to destroy our mock-ups. Drones and missiles are expensive. Our models are much cheaper," explains a company representative to NV.
Three top managers at Metinvest came up with the idea to create such psychological weapons at the beginning of the war. The proposal was personally supported by Rinat Akhmetov.
The team of experts honed their skills for over a year. Currently, the models faithfully reproduce the appearance of real equipment. The company's specialists examined the physical parameters of actual military equipment and created detailed design sketches.
"The enemy is not foolish. We have to work on realism. We evaluate ourselves like this: if the new model we send to the front gets destroyed, it means we did everything correctly," explains one of the company's employees.
Metinvest has already delivered over 250 such models to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These models have often served as targets for the enemy, saving real equipment and the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. The company's experts' latest developments have added even more realism to the products: the models can emit heat, making them look convincing not only during the day but also at night when viewed through a thermal imager.
Another type of steel savior for the Ukrainian armored vehicles at Metinvest is referred to as "Lancet catchers." These mobile shelters, measuring 10 meters in length and about five meters in width and height, weigh approximately a ton. They are constructed from a steel frame covered with camouflaged metal mesh. The company can produce up to five "Javelin catchers" per week.
These structures are versatile and can be used for camouflaging and protecting most types of vehicles on the battlefield, including self-propelled artillery units, tanks, and personnel transport vehicles. The initial examples of "Lancet catchers" on the frontlines have proven to be reliable devices that intercept enemy drones and safeguard the vehicles.
Mobile "Lancet catchers" require minimal effort for installation, as no additional equipment is needed. After fulfilling their purpose, the structures can be easily restored. Metinvest has provided 32 shelters for the hottest frontline areas.
Likewise, the deployment of vehicle models to the frontlines is straightforward and doesn't consume much time. For instance, assembling an artillery cannon takes only 20 minutes.
The experts at the company continually refine their vehicle models, adding new types of weaponry to their arsenal. Their craftsmanship has been proven on the battlefield. The best acknowledgment of their work is the remnants of shaheds and lancets that get entangled in the steel mesh.
"We don't count the number of models produced but rather the number of destroyed ones. That's what matters most to us. The quicker our models are destroyed, the better for us," adds the Metinvest employee. Meanwhile, his colleagues are already working on the next batch of artillery piece replicas to meet the Ukrainian military's demand.
