“At a distance of 300 meters it's practically impossible to visually distinguish it from the real thing. Even when the chief constructor of the real S-300 saw it, he mistook it for an operational unit,” Yury Stepanov, a designer of the inflatable model, told RT.

The Russian army began deploying these inflatable models about three years ago. Before, they used mock ups made of plastic or rubber, but their weight and the amount of time needed for deployment made them inefficient, leading to a search for alternatives.

A relatively small-sized bag can contain several full size T-72 tanks which can be deployed within five minutes. The full set of equipment weighs about 40 kg.

From air and space these inflatable dummies don't just look real, but act as if they were real. The S-300 SAM sites can acquire marching as well as stand-by positions. And even with such sophisticated gadgets like heat detectors they're identical to the operational hardware. They radiate heat and even appear on radar screens in the very same way.

“In our models we use special materials. They have to be not just light and air proof, but we also insert this material that imitates metal construction,” Viktor Tarazanov, the director of the production unit, explained.

Naturally, the best disguise for these dummies would be a group of real soldiers imitating the maintenance of this inflatable hardware.

All of the mock-ups have the exact capacities of the genuine military equipment, and putting them together is no small task.

“Here we have the best professionals working. They sometimes have a stitch 40 meters long. And it has to be precise – just two millimeters out and the product becomes worthless,” Irina Minaeva, the head of the assembly line, explained.

The company once dealt with balloons before striking the military mock jackpot.

Now that they've acquired a taste for pumping up the army with these products, they are planning to expand their arsenal with all the army has, except perhaps for the soldiers.