In today’s high-tech wars, deception has become as important as firepower. Modern decoys are no longer just inflatable dummies; they are advanced systems designed to confuse enemy radars, missiles, and drones.

India’s Rafale jets reportedly used the X-Guard Fibre-Optic Towed Decoy during Operation Sindoor. Trailing behind the aircraft, it mimicked the Rafale’s radar and speed, tricking Pakistani missiles into hitting the decoys instead of the real jets. Experts called it one of the best examples of deception in combat.

On the ground, armies use inflatable tanks, 3D-printed artillery, and heat-emitting fakes to mislead enemy drones and waste their costly missiles. Ukraine and Russia both rely heavily on such decoys in the ongoing war.

Navies too deploy floating chaff, acoustic signals, and advanced systems like the Nulka decoy, which pretends to be a much bigger ship to lure away incoming missiles.

These tricks cost little but deliver huge benefits: protecting real assets, saving ammunition, and buying time. In the era of precision weapons, decoys have quietly become one of the smartest shields in modern warfare.