Invention helps tanks invisibility in the night

A new technology makes dark observation devices impossible to detect tanks and other motorized vehicles.

The BBC reported that BAE Systems , a military equipment manufacturer in the UK, has found a way to help military vehicles change shell temperatures according to their surroundings. They built a thermoelectric material capable of rapidly changing temperatures. Thermoelectric materials are substances that can turn heat into electricity.

From the new material the team created panels with regular hexagons . About 1,000 hexagonal plates, each with a 14cm diagonal, can cover a small tank.

BEA Systems stealth technology is based on thermally hexagonal sheets that cover the motor vehicle's shell. (Photo: BBC)

Some thermal cameras continuously monitor the tank ambient temperature. They can work when tanks move. The data that the cameras provide will help the control system in the tank adjust the temperature on the shell.

Every object that has a temperature greater than 0 degrees C emits infrared rays, the type of electromagnetic radiation that has a longer wavelength than visible light. Humans do not see infrared, but scientists have built many types of devices (like infrared binoculars) that can detect objects emitting infrared in the dark.

The team did not specify the principle of temperature regulation on hexagonal plates. Field tests showed that BAE Systems ' technology helps the best 'invisible' tanks in the dark at 300-400m distance.

BAE Systems is also capable of creating a library of thermal images of other objects - like trucks, cars, cows, and big stones. In case of necessity, the microprocessor will adjust the temperature of the tires by increasing the temperature of other objects, so that observers with infrared binoculars will not be able to detect the target of tanks.

"Previous attempts to make stealth shells have been hindered by high costs or high electricity demand, " said Pader Sjolund, the lead researcher. m Adaptiv technology comes to a complete differentiation, because hexagonal sheets are coated with tank covers and other motor vehicles consume very little electricity.

'We can resize hexagonal sheets to make objects invisible at many different distances. For example, a warship or building does not need to be invisible at close range, so they need large hexagonal sheets , 'Sjolund explained.

According to BAE Systems calculations, Adaptive technology can be applied in real time within two years.