Dummy tank

Inflatable M47 mockup

A dummy Sherman tank, under construction, in Italy, in 1944

Inflatable mockup of a T-72 tank

A dummy tank is a real-sized model that looks like a tank. Dummy tanks have several uses:

• They are used as a form of military deception, as a decoy.
• They are used in training: you don't need a fully-functional real tank to learn how to drive a tank, for example.
• They are sometimes used as a target.

As of 2020, there are models that can trick radar systems. Unmanned aerial vehicles are usually better at detecting dummy tanks than real fighter aircraft.

The first dummy tanks were used in the 1920s and 1930s: they were modified tractors.