Invisible tanks could be on battlefield within five years.

[spud_meister]

Invisible tanks could be on battlefield within five years - Telegraph

Armoured vehicles will use a new technology known as "e-camouflage" which deploys a form "electronic ink" to render a vehicle "invisible".

Highly sophisticated electronic sensors attached to the tank's hull will project images of the surrounding environment back onto the outside of the vehicle enabling it to merge into the landscape and evade attack.

Now this is just freakin' awesome, until someone screws up and you get interracial midget porn playing on the outside of your tank, but until then, this is still awesome.

But to up the awesome, they need a system where the tank can sneak up on an enemy soldier, tap him on the shoulder, then when he turns around blow him up, just because life needs to be more like cartoons.

 

[cpwill]

yeah...i remember watching a special on how this was just around the corner.



.... i think that was in 1998 or so.

 

[spud_meister]

yeah...i remember watching a special on how this was just around the corner.



.... i think that was in 1998 or so.

Yeah, the American were considering it, but dropped it, now the Poms have picked it up, and seem to have it viable.

 

[WI Crippler]

Yeah, the American were considering it, but dropped it, now the Poms have picked it up, and seem to have it viable.

This is awesome, because now a tank driver could totally sneak into a womens shower room.

 

[jamesrage]

Invisible tanks could be on battlefield within five years - Telegraph



Now this is just freakin' awesome, until someone screws up and you get interracial midget porn playing on the outside of your tank, but until then, this is still awesome.

But to up the awesome, they need a system where the tank can sneak up on an enemy soldier, tap him on the shoulder, then when he turns around blow him up, just because life needs to be more like cartoons.

I do not think its an awesome idea. Just because you can do something does not mean you should. This is a type of technology that you do not want in the hands of your enemies and as this technology becomes more efficient and cheaper this is not something you want law enforcement and criminals getting their hands on.

 

[Ockham]

I do not think its an awesome idea. Just because you can do something does not mean you should. This is a type of technology that you do not want in the hands of your enemies and as this technology becomes more efficient and cheaper this is not something you want law enforcement and criminals getting their hands on.

Meh... someone saw this and is now planning on inventing, within 5 years, a portable EM detector that attaches onto standard NV or daytime military sites. The EM signal on such a tank would show up probably like looking at the sun. I appreciate the idea but I would think it's too easy to defeat.

 

[jamesrage]

Meh... someone saw this and is now planning on inventing, within 5 years, a portable EM detector that attaches onto standard NV or daytime military sites. The EM signal on such a tank would show up probably like looking at the sun. I appreciate the idea but I would think it's too easy to defeat.

And I am sure someone will invent something to counter a EM detector.

 

[iangb]

Meh... someone saw this and is now planning on inventing, within 5 years, a portable EM detector that attaches onto standard NV or daytime military sites. The EM signal on such a tank would show up probably like looking at the sun. I appreciate the idea but I would think it's too easy to defeat.

...you do know that light (the thing being manipulated here to fool people) is an EM wave, yes? What sort of EM are you talking about detecting?

EDIT: Perhaps it will only detect female tank drivers named Em?

 

[Manc Skipper]

I think I may have spotted a flaw in this cunning plan. How does the driver find his tank in the mornings?

 

[Goshin]

I think I may have spotted a flaw in this cunning plan. How does the driver find his tank in the mornings?

He asks the valet to bring it 'round to the front door of the hotel, of course! :mrgreen:

 

[spud_meister]

I think I may have spotted a flaw in this cunning plan. How does the driver find his tank in the mornings?

It's the one playing interracial midget porn.

 

[EnigmaO01]

So how much is each tank? 300 billion dollars? :roll:

 

[Wiseone]

Invisible tank you say? I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[samsmart]

I do not think its an awesome idea. Just because you can do something does not mean you should. This is a type of technology that you do not want in the hands of your enemies and as this technology becomes more efficient and cheaper this is not something you want law enforcement and criminals getting their hands on.

You can't put a genie back in a bottle. Once a technology has been invented, barring cost-benefit ratios, there's little choice but to develop it. After all, if we could stop the development of technologies, atomic energy would have been the one that we would have stopped.

 

[Ockham]

And I am sure someone will invent something to counter a EM detector.

Perhaps - but once camoflauge can be detected, it's no longer useful. It's not like the invention of chelated armor. Camo is has a specific use and once it's defeated, it's no longer useful.

 

[Ockham]

...you do know that light (the thing being manipulated here to fool people) is an EM wave, yes? What sort of EM are you talking about detecting?

EDIT: Perhaps it will only detect female tank drivers named Em?

Electromagnetic waves are part of a spectrum of waves, which creates varying levels of radiation. Key in on the wavelengths used by this new camoflauge and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Take this little gadget for example:
Electromagnetic Radiation Detector

Used to sweep small locations for transmitters, phone taps, etc., keys in on EM radiation. Take that gadget, make, modify it and strengthen it's sensitivity and the "invisible tank" is no longer invisible. :shrug:

 

[Goshin]

You can't put a genie back in a bottle. Once a technology has been invented, barring cost-benefit ratios, there's little choice but to develop it. After all, if we could stop the development of technologies, atomic energy would have been the one that we would have stopped.

Lotta truth in that. I would add the caveat that we would have preferred to keep nuclear weapons for ourselves and prevented others from developing them. In fact, we're still trying to do exactly that, keep any more countries from making nukes, but some keep slipping in under the door: NKorea, Pakistan, and soon Iraq. There will be more in the future, too, inevitably: as you say, you can't keep the genie in the bottle. This is why we need better anti-missle systems.

Whether the invisible tank will prove to be a viable battlefield technology is debateable. It might be, it might not be. We'll have to wait and see.

 

[Dezaad]

Oh, for heavens sake. While this idea could conceivably offer better camouflage, it will hardly render the vehicle invisible. If the surroundings are a certain way, and the direction from which you are viewing the tank assures that you see it's selected camouflage against a similar background, it would be nearly invisible, to be sure.

Think this through. I think the claims are overblown. Nevertheless, the technology might still be useful.

 

[iangb]

Electromagnetic waves are part of a spectrum of waves, which creates varying levels of radiation. Key in on the wavelengths used by this new camoflauge and it sticks out like a sore thumb. Take this little gadget for example:
Electromagnetic Radiation Detector

Used to sweep small locations for transmitters, phone taps, etc., keys in on EM radiation. Take that gadget, make, modify it and strengthen it's sensitivity and the "invisible tank" is no longer invisible. :shrug:

Sorry to sound argumentative, but that's not entirely accurate. Optical camouflage as described by the OP wouldn't give out any radiation as you imply - the only radiation it would give out is the light from the fake image being transmitted outwards.

The gadget you linked to is designed to detect something that is sending wireless signals - for example, a hidden microphone with a radio transmitter. If the tank maintained radio silence, it wouldn't be spotted by that. The only way you'd be able to directly sense it is by radar, or by sound - be it active (like a sonar ping) or passive (listening for the engine). Some of those can be fooled, some less so.

With all that said, Dezaad has a good point. It would be good for one viewing angle only (until we get much better at 3D image tech) - good for approaching a single distant target or hiding more effectively from spotter aircraft (though indirect tells like tracks/dust clouds would be a non-subtle give-away), but not much else.

 

[The Mark]

Sorry to sound argumentative, but that's not entirely accurate. Optical camouflage as described by the OP wouldn't give out any radiation as you imply - the only radiation it would give out is the light from the fake image being transmitted outwards.

The gadget you linked to is designed to detect something that is sending wireless signals - for example, a hidden microphone with a radio transmitter. If the tank maintained radio silence, it wouldn't be spotted by that. The only way you'd be able to directly sense it is by radar, or by sound - be it active (like a sonar ping) or passive (listening for the engine). Some of those can be fooled, some less so.

With all that said, Dezaad has a good point. It would be good for one viewing angle only (until we get much better at 3D image tech) - good for approaching a single distant target or hiding more effectively from spotter aircraft (though indirect tells like tracks/dust clouds would be a non-subtle give-away), but not much else.

It might lead to tanks becoming more rounded, or with more curved edges, as I would think a circular object or sphere would be the easiest to apply such a system to...

I dunno…

 

[iangb]

It might lead to tanks becoming more rounded, or with more curved edges, as I would think a circular object or sphere would be the easiest to apply such a system to...

I dunno…

As an aside: there was a video out a while ago showing some researchers with an 'invisibility cloak'. The Cloak in the linked video works by the following:

1. There is a second camera recording a video stream of the view behind the person.
2. A projector situated right next to the main camera (the camera recording for YouTube) is projecting the second camera's image onto the scene (after some adjustment to account for viewing angle difference, etc)
3. The 'invisible' coat is coated (pun totally unintended, but appreciated) in special tiny beads that reflects/focuses all incoming light back to roughly where it came from. This has the effect of returning the projected image back towards the camera, much brighter than a normal blank canvas screen would give. As such, you see the background image projected onto the foreground - success!

The drawback of this is that it only works for narrow viewing angles - and the prjector has to be fairly close to the enemy's POV. Potential, though.

My other thought would be that camouflage doesn't just have to be about invisibility. Colour-changing animals like cuttlefish use their camouflage to blend in by making it hard to tell where the edges of the fish are, which has a surprisingly powerful effect. By animating their skin, cuttlefish can also be seriously confusing - briefly projecting the illusion of stillness as they run away, or seeming to move while they are still. All those things would be an advantage when you're trying to not get shot.

 

[Whovian]

i'll believe this when I don't see it.

 

[Deuce]

Invisible tanks? Psh, I'll believe it when I-

Invisible tank you say? I'll believe it when I see it.

DAMNIT

 

[Demon of Light]

I do not think its an awesome idea. Just because you can do something does not mean you should. This is a type of technology that you do not want in the hands of your enemies and as this technology becomes more efficient and cheaper this is not something you want law enforcement and criminals getting their hands on.

Unless you want to ban research into this technology there is not much you can do to stop it.

 

[d0gbreath]

I'm pretty sure that David Copperfield used a stationary, less technical aspect of this technology, when he made a jumbo jet disappear back in the '80s.

I'm also pretty sure that you would be able to see one of these tanks when it was moving. Now they need to work on broadcasting tank noise 180 degrees out of phase so that they are as quiet as possible. They are way too loud to sneak up on anything. That and the exhaust really reeks.