According to information released by the U.S. Department of War, the mock-ups not only resemble the structure of the original weapon, but are designed to reflect the actual radar, visual and electromagnetic signatures of foreign weapons that U.S. forces may encounter in a future conflict. These signatures are crucial because they appear on the monitors of US combat aircraft and tell what weapons pilots are dealing with.
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What equipment does the American military use for training?
Where did these exercises take place?
What signatures do the mockups reflect?
Do other armies also have similar replicas?
Other armies also have similar equipment
The replicas used in Fallon are part of a growing collection of mock-ups of alien systems designed for electronic warfare teams and intelligence units. Thanks to them, American units can conduct training attacks on almost identical equipment used by Russian and Chinese air defense, which does not necessarily mean preparation for war with these countries.
Both systems are used by several other armies that are unfavorable to the United States. Venezuela, on the shores of which the US has deployed its powerful fleet, has the Russian S-300VM system, and Iran has both Russian weapons and the Chinese HQ-9 system, which, however, completely failed during the 12-day war with Israel in June this year.
On Monday, the American website MilitaryWatchMagazine revealed that in Nevada, the marines “fought” mock-ups of both systems in desert camouflage, reminiscent of the landscape dominant in Iran. And indeed, these are the colors that the Iranian armed forces paint their S-300PM-2 systems in.
The US gained access to early S-300 variants thanks to Ukraine and former Warsaw Pact members who joined NATO.
