[Old Brit]

BAE technology 'can turn tanks into cows'
Scientists at BAE Systems have developed a technology that could make tanks invisible or appear as cows to enemies.

The "invisibility cloak", called Adaptiv, uses on-board cameras to pick up background scenery and then project the image on to panels on the outside of the vehicle.

This means the tank can blend into the background when viewed at night through infrared scopes, or be made to appear as a 4x4 vehicle or cow.

The BAE scientists, based in Sweden, are also trying to develop the technology for other frequencies of light in order to secure total invisibility.

However, producing the technology for infrared viewing is important because it can shield vehicles from night-vision goggles and infrared technology used by aircraft.

Peder Sjölund, project manager, said: "Earlier attempts at similar cloaking devices have hit problems because of cost, excessive power requirements or because they were insufficiently robust.

"Our panels can be made so strong that they provide useful armour protection and consume relatively low levels of electricity, especially when the vehicle is at rest in 'stealth recce' mode and generator output is low."

BAE is working on the project alongside the Swedish Defence Material Administration. However, the company is also understood to have shared some data with the Ministry of Defence in the UK.

The key to the technology is the panels on the outside of the vehicle. The hexagonal "pixels" need to change temperature rapidly in order to effectively turn the side of the vehicle into an infrared screen. BAE will not reveal how the panels are being heated in the Adaptiv system but they are also thought to boost the armour of the vehicle and protect it from traditional radar detection.

Tests have been carried out on a CV90 tank and BAE found the system worked best from 300 metres to 400 metres away. The technology can be used to make a tank resemble other objects through images being stored on the system.

Mr Sjölund said: "We can resize the pixels to achieve stealth for different ranges. A warship or building, for instance, might not need close-up stealth, so could be fitted with larger panels."

The Adaptiv system will be on display next week at the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition at London's Excel.

FTSE 100 defence group BAE believes the technology could be ready for production in two years.

If they can get it workingwith infrared then this will be a very interesting weapon. And people laughed at us when we put it in James Bond

[Goldberk]

Not sure I understand how the panels would prevent heat detection?

[Typhoon]

Not sure I understand how the panels would prevent heat detection?

Looks like the panels heat up and cool down to give a surface temperature which mirrors the surounding enviroment, put a video in the video thread which demonstrates this quite well, wonder how it looks visually, UV or radar though. Its a small step but multi-spectral camo is a long way off.

[Xbow]

I agree Typhoon.

I hope they cool the exhaust off 'real good' because the first thing you spot when you're observing your sector with a thermal sight is the heat signature of a vehicles exhaust. To be stealthy with a ground vehicle, especially a Tank, AFV or heavy truck the thing would have to be able to go on battery power like a hybrid car while trying to be stealthy. And like you said how would that vehicle look to a ground radar set that could be integrated into a vehicles fire control system with without too much difficulty. Is it coated with RAM? But its interesting all the same.

[Thunderhawk]

Perhaps the visual stealth market will be inconspicuous monitoring of civilians and poorly equipped insurgents?