My father spent the majority of his military career as a Tank Commander in the U.S. Army. In my discussions with him, he revealed that that this career choice was driven by his lifelong fascination with tanks. In fact, despite being retired from the military for several years, he still tries to stay current regarding tank technology. As such, I wasn’t surprised that he called me when it was announced that an “invisibility cloak” had been developed for tanks.
BAE Systems has successfully tested a new camouflaging system called “Adaptive” that can instantly blend a combat vehicle into its natural surroundings by making it invisible to infrared and other surveillance technology. Adaptiv can also mimic natural objects and other vehicles, and display tags for Identification Friend/Foe (IFF) capability by displaying distinctive patterns visible only at certain spectral ranges or in response to an interrogation signal. The technology is based on sheets of lightweight hexagonal ‘pixels’ (panels) that are electrically powered by a vehicle’s systems. The metal panels are individually heated and cooled rapidly using semiconducting technology. The hand-sized pixels are not unlike the tiles used on the exterior of space shuttles–they’re designed to sustain physical impact and can be easily removed and replaced if damaged.
Rick S.
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