Ukraine Develops ‘Anti-Thermal’ Poncho
19 February, 2024 A person in ordinary clothes and in a special one that absorbs infrared radiation. Photo Illustration Ukraine is developing 'anti-thermal' equipment for the military, which will disguise infrared radiation emitted by soldiers and hide them from enemy thermal imagers.
This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. The Central Directorate for Development and Support of Material Support develops an 'anti-thermal' poncho (coat). It is expected to absorb infrared radiation from the human body.
If successful, this product will help the Ukrainian military remain invisible to enemy thermal imagers and night vision devices. The report notes that five samples made from different fabrics are already being tested at the Central Department.
Testing of "anti-thermovision" ponchos in the Central Department of Development and Material Support. Photo credits: Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
"The specificity is that we need to create a material that absorbs infrared radiation and has low thermal conductivity.
Our goal is to disguise the military and equipment from the enemy as reliably as possible," Vitalii Polovenko, Deputy Minister of Defense, said. Polovenko noted that materials for the manufacture of anti-thermal capes should be flexible and resistant to the environment: atmospheric precipitation, not burn out in the sun, and have camouflage properties on the ground.
Anti-thermal equipment
The battlefield of the Russian-Ukrainian war is well saturated with thermal imagers. They are in large numbers in the use of infantry, and are also equipped with reconnaissance drones and armored vehicles.
In the conditions of active use of this technology, the issue of masking for thermal imagers for the successful performance of combat missions is important. For the manufacture of such equipment, various multilayer materials are used, in particular polymers, microfibers, and fabrics interspersed with metal particles. Military equipment designed to disguise infrared radiation is already used by various armies around the world, for example, Israel and the United States.
Camouflage suit with protection against detection by heat-vision devices from the Israeli company Polaris Solutions
Similar means are produced for ground military equipment.
In particular, the Russian Nakidka radar-absorbent material (RAM) camouflage, used on the Russian T-90M and the Swedish Saab Barracuda, which can be seen on some Ukrainian CV90 IFV.