Richard Craig – EngD Systems Thinking in Cyberdefence

Adaptiv is based around hexagonal panels made of a thermo-electric material.

Developed by BAE Systems, the Adaptiv technology allows vehicles to mimic the temperature of their surroundings.

Unlike traditional camouflage systems which rely on paint or nets to hide vehicles, ADAPTIV can instantly blend a vehicle into its background. The system can also be used on ships and fixed installations, allowing them to stay undetected by enemy surveillance units.

The hi-tech camouflage uses hexagonal panels or pixels made of a material that can change temperature very quickly. About 1,000 pixel panels, each of which is 14cm across, are needed to cover a small tank.

The panels are driven by on-board thermal cameras that constantly image the ambient temperature of the tank’s surroundings. This is projected on to the panels to make it harder to spot. The cameras can also work when the tank is moving. BAE Systems has also produced a library containing the heat images of other objects, such as trucks, cars and large rocks, that can be projected on to the panels.

“Earlier attempts at similar cloaking devices have hit problems because of cost, excessive power requirements or because they were insufficiently robust,” said Adaptiv project manager Pader Sjolund at BAE Systems in a statement. By contrast, he explained, Adaptiv panels add to the armour on a fighting vehicle and consume relatively little power.

“We can resize the pixels to achieve stealth for different ranges,” he added. “A warship or building, for instance, might not need close-up stealth, so could be fitted with larger panels.”

BAE estimates that the technology could be ready to put into production in two years.

Visual Identification

Allied tanks identify themselves

While the Adaptiv technology allows vehicles to mimic the temperature of their surroundings, the termal panels can also be used to identify friendly tanks to allied aircraft.

Heating a number of panels to display a simple ‘X’ on a tank, could help to reduce blue-on-blue incidents. The range of thermal symbols could be expanded to provide information on unit or mission status and convey information quickly to any allied personnel able to view and understand the iconography.

QR Code

The thermal panels could also be used to transmit information visually using QR codes to allied forces to avoid RF transmission between units. While the thermal symbols could be viewed by anyone with night vision goggles, any information content would only related to short range operations within an immediate time frame when RF silence was required.

The resolution from the tank thermal panels would not be as detailed as a normal QR code, but code provide digital information on status, communication, etc. As long a line of sight is maintained, an infrared communication network could be established to avoid EM but allow beaconing.