Dummy tank A dummy tank is a type of decoy intended to fool an enemy into believing a fake tank , usually inflatable or wooden , is real . Although tanks first appeared in World War I , dummy tanks were not widely used until World War II . World War I . During World War I , the British made use of dummy versions of their Mark I tank s , these were lightweight , but visually accurate , reproductions . The tracks were non - functional so they moved on a set of concealed wheels underneath ; they were towed from place to place by a pair of horses . World War II . In World War II , both the Allies and the Axis used dummy tanks . The British , who designed them , called them " spoofs . " The Americans used them as well . Before the war began , the Wehrmacht utilized mock tanks to practice tactics and train their troops . One of the first uses of dummy tanks during the Second World War was in the North African Campaign . The Royal Engineers stationed there constructed two per day ; between April and June 1941 , they were able to build three dummy Royal Tank Regiment s , and another in November that same year . These were foldable , and thus portable , however , the Royal Engineers improved them further . Jeep s were used to make the " spoofs " more realistic : a steel frame covered with canvas was placed on them , making a self - propelled dummy tank . Meanwhile , the reverse was also done , to make tanks look like trucks . A further device was put into use that both created simulated tank tracks , and erased real ones . Dummy tanks were used extensively in Operation Fortitude , prior to the landings at the Normandy Beaches . During this operation , they were used to confuse German intelligence in two ways : first , by making it seem that the Allies had more tanks than they did ; and second , they were used to hide and downplay the importance of the location of their real tanks , in order to make it seem that the invasion would occur at the Pas - de - Calais rather than at Normandy . Similarly , during Operation Shingle at Anzio , Italy , inflatable Sherman tank s were deployed when the real tanks were elsewhere . In the Pacific Theater of Operations , the Japanese also utilized decoys ; one recorded instance was during the Battle of Iwo Jima . A " tank " was surrounded by American infantry , which had been under artillery bombardment : they found it was not real , but merely a sculpture , carved out of volcanic ash . The Red Army also employed dummy tanks to increase their apparent numbers , and mask their true movements . Modern era . During the Kosovo War , the Yugoslav Army regularly placed dummy tanks in Kosovo which misled NATO forces into thinking that they were destroying far more real tanks than actually occurred . The United States Army has developed a modern dummy tank . It imitates the M1 Abrams tank not only in appearance , but also in its heat signature , in order to appear real to infrared detectors . One of these decoys can take fire from the enemy and still appear to be operational , thus delaying the enemy by as much as an hour , as they are forced to destroy the decoy . These M1 decoys cost only $ 3 , 300 , compared to $ 4 . 35 million for a real M1 . The decoy is also practical : when disassembled , it weighs only fifty pounds , and is roughly the same size as a duffel bag . Its generator — about the size of a 12 inch television — facilitates inflation , so that two people can erect the decoy in a few minutes . Occasionally , real tanks carry a dummy on board , to deploy when needed .