Can a Real-Life ‘Invisibility Cloak’ Actually Hide a Military Tank?
- Posted on September 6, 2011 at 9:01pm by
Liz Klimas
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There’s a reason people use the phrase “as large as a tank” as an exaggerated comparison for other objects: they are huge and hard to hide.
But BAE Systems, a defense company, recently developed a ‘cloak’ — literally, a covering of panels — that reduces visibility of tanks in the infra-red spectrum.
Now you see it.
(Screenshot: BAE Systems Video)
Now you don’t.
(Screenshot: BAE Systems Video)
According to the release (via Wired), panels that have patented “Adaptiv” technology are affixed to the tank. The technology is based on sheets of hexagonal ‘pixels’ can change temperature very rapidly:
On-board cameras pick up the background scenery and display that infra-red image on the vehicle, allowing even a moving tank to match its surroundings. Alternatively, it can mimic another vehicle or display identification tags, reducing the risk of fratricide.
. . .
BAE Systems engineers have combined the pixels with other technologies, which provide camouflage in other parts of the electro-magnetic spectrum at the same time to provide all-round stealth, which will be developed further over the next few years.
According to project manager, Peder Sjölund, compared to other panels, this version is more energy effective and still provides armor protection.
Watch this video showcasing the technology:
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Will M.
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 6:42pmWould we have to apologize to other countries, if they couldn’t see us ?
Report Post »teamarcheson
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 9:58pmHow long will it survive in Iraq or Afghanistan? What will a land mine (iED) do to it?
Report Post »gmoneytx
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:32pmNow I know how Obama got in the white house, using this cloak of darkness
Report Post »DanWesson455
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 9:27amSo that’s how David Copperfield gets all that stuff to disappear.
Report Post »KCL3
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 10:27amSomeone cover Obama with one and make him go away just like his approval ratings
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:30pmKCL3,
The Emporer already where’s no cloths.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 8:45amFinally! I can sneak into the ladies locker room!
Report Post »swampbuck
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 8:14amYou can thank the hunting industry for this one, check out ghost blind
Report Post »CHICAGOTHUGBUCKET
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 7:27amWhen do they sell it in makeup form for my wife?
Report Post »MomaGrisley2
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 7:53amOr better yet, XXL jeans/shirt/TENT to make you disappear – your wife!
Report Post »romadave
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:35pmdude.. you got B U S T E D.
Report Post »Windsong
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 4:37amI have an idea. How about you never share military secrets with me…and I never ask for any? The thing is that, if so much as one warrior comes home wounded because of this…then it wasn’t worth it.
Report Post »steer
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 8:34amI just wonder why anyone wanting information of this sort would come to this site. Why not go straight the the website for US Patent and Trademark uspto.gov You may even get a drawing for that tank bed warmer.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:03amThis is old technology, and it’s not practical for actual use. It’s nothing more than a modified “green screen” like the ones used for special effects in the film industry projecting the image of the background scenery on the panels.
It’s useless on something actually moving or if there is the slightest hint of a breeze. And the illusion exists only through the lens of that specific camera. To any other ordinary optics or the naked eye it just looks like a bunch of bedsheets. And the photographs have to be painstaking orchestrated with the camera a precise distance and angle from the panels with just the right lighting.
Report Post »Pocono Countryboy
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 7:52amWaaa.. a bunch of whiners here reflexively hitting reply before even reading the article.
Try at least READING something before attempting to formulate a reply designed to make you look smart…or you may end up looking like an idiot instead.
Report Post »romadave
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:38pmWow that was a dumb comment.
Green screen. Really?
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 4:44pmTry doing some research and not just believing everything you read written by someone that doesn’t know the first thing about the technology and is just regurgitating what the people trying to sell the technology fed them.
Notice that they are giving you a single static image. The vehicle is NOT moving. The camera angle doesn’t change. They don’t even dare to zoom the camera. They give you a single static image that spans all of a couple of seconds. It‘s nothing more than a parlor trick in it’s current form. If the technology had advanced far enough to where it was practical for real world use they would have done a more impressive demonstration. They would have shown multiple vehicles from multiple angles in various environments with varying levels of light.
Report Post »Paula
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 1:48amI saw evidence that this has been around for a long long time.
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:50amHow many additional dead Al Qeda can we expect from this technology or is it just another toy for e ” Four-Star General, “He-sucks-up-to-any-politician?”
Why would you want to hide a tank from view? A sophisticated enemy uses infra red which immediately reveals a tank in any light or meteorological condition and, if you are using a tank against infantry or insurgency, part of the psychological impact is that the ragged beggars can see and hear eminent death.
Does the government have anybody who thinks before they spend? Or do they filter for applications for “spender”?
Report Post »romadave
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:40pmWow! Another comment from someone who didn’t read the article… at ALL.
Report Post »Worldsapart
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:34amI heard rumors this was already on the F-22.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 1:03amHas GE sold it to China yet?
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:06amI seriously doubt the F22 is wrapped in bedsheets and they’ve handed out special cameras to all our enemies so they can see the really neato illusion.
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:15amI bet they spent multi billions of tax payer dollars on this, and that some teenage Chinese kid will invent a gizmo in high school for twenty bucks that defeats the panels.
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 11:34pmThe cuttlefish is the master of this camouflage and the inspiration behind the technology. Truly cool.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:44amJust to be clear, the cuttlefish changes color, not temperature.
Report Post »Nevada Paleocon
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 1:40amJust to be clear, the monitor used to visualize the tank, shows SHADES OF COLOR to distinguish objects that are present. Although the electronics uses algorithms based on temperature readings emitted by the objects, the monitor a person sees the objects with uses COLORS (and does not show temperatures of those objects). So the Cuttlfish would in fact be a correct analogy.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:57pm-Nevada Paleocon creates an account today to state the obvious.
Hurr. Durr.
“The cuttlefish is the master of THIS camouflage” Because making it sound like the cuttlefish evades infrared sensory shouldn’t go unclarified.
Report Post »BenInNY
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 11:11pmVERY cool…
Report Post »until they make clothing out of the material and you‘re out at the bar hitting on someone that turns out to be 100 lbs heavier and you can’t tell what sex they are. Oh man. Nightmares tonight.
Ivan in Phoenix
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:21amPlease, tell us more about the recent traumatic experience you just hinted about…
Report Post »mossbrain
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 10:59pmBravo! Let’s spend a couple of billion on this technology, or, just nuke Muslim countries and get it over onve and for allk.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 10:53pmNow THAT’S COOL!!!
You could project an infrared image of a PINTO and be driving an M1 Abrams!!
.
.
.
LOL
Or, a Chevy VOLT
ROFLMAO!!
What would YOU project??
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 10:58pmthe Philadelphia project
Report Post »Worldsapart
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 12:33amVolt…LLOL!!!
Report Post »Ivan in Phoenix
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 3:27amProjecting a herd of sheep or goats might make them so horny they drop their weapons and rush straight toward the tank. That would make for a great ambush!
Report Post »BetterDays
Posted on September 7, 2011 at 5:02pmThat no liberal laws were ever passed, and that no socialists were ever born.
Report Post »Infidel49
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 10:47pmMaybe you should give one to obuma. I bet he wishes he was invisible right about now.
Report Post »robinakilt
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 10:45pmThat is amazing! BAE you guys should be proud! I had to watch the video many many times
Report Post »staggerlee32
Posted on September 6, 2011 at 10:38pmIf it saves lives it’s awesome…
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