Military equipment will receive electronic ink camouflage adapting to the environment

January 14 2011 1

British defense company BAE Systems promises that in five years it will change the face of ground military equipment. Mainly we are talking about tanks... The armored vehicle will be dressed in a new camouflage that can change its appearance depending on the environment. The ambitious project is called E-camouflage, and, surprising as it sounds, it will be based on developments related to electronic ink.

It should be noted that the creation of masking surfaces with maximum mimicry, is the dream of the military in different countries. In particular, the US Department of Defense not so long ago allocated a grant of 6 million dollars, so that after four years camouflage appeared on the light, changing color quickly and effectively. As a guideline will be taken skill in the field of masking animals such as octopus, squid and cuttlefish. American scientists place their main hopes in the search for appropriate materials on nanostructures.

As for the British researchers from BAE Systems, they have already decided on their choice and want to equip tanks with an active system using electronic ink.

Recall that the electronic ink technology itself was developed in the 90s of the last century and, on the eve of 2000, was introduced to the consumer market, embedded in devices for reading electronic books. Until now, there has been no revolutionary change in the technology itself, and the screens have remained black and white. However, the reader with color electronic paper was already announced in November last year by the Chinese company Hanvon Technology.

As Ekaterina Gavrilina, iriver product manager, told RBC daily, electronic ink displays are created on a matrix, on which microscopic transparent capsules are applied with a thin layer. In the capsules are charged particles with white and black pigment (when exposed to electricity, particles with a corresponding charge of "plus" or "minus" are attracted or repelled). With this effect, you can achieve very high resolution and clarity. There are only two colors so far: black and white.

According to Ms. Gavrilina, electronic ink is very stable and ergonomic. Accordingly, it is not surprising that the British defenders see precisely this important qualities that will allow camouflage to project a camouflaged “picture” onto the tank with minimal energy expenditure, even in difficult combat conditions.

The appearance of an experimental prototype of the E-camouflage for the UK Army is expected by 2013. Each tank with a new type of camouflage coating will be equipped with sensors to analyze the surrounding terrain. Sensor technology will allow to determine and transmit data on the environment on the matrix with electronic ink covering the tank armor. The latter will literally reproduce the environment on the armor, and the tank will merge with the landscape around.

Most importantly, the E-camouflage will track changes in the environment and adapt to them, that is, when moving from one natural area to another and the tank will change its color. The newest system, perhaps, will go into service with British forces in Afghanistan.