New army camo 'can fool night vision goggles' (Germany's Bundeswehr)

TheLocal.de ^ | 02 Feb 2016 16:30 GMT+01:00

[TADSLOS]

But that doesn't mean that soldiers will be totally invisible in the dark, as it's almost impossible to hide a person's body heat against variable background temperatures outdoors.

Two different things. FLIR imagery displays contrasts in heat/cold. NVS is all about light amplification. So, unless these uniforms have some sort of property to defeat body heat emission, FLIR will still detect the soldiers wearing them.

[grobdriver]

A variety of sample camouflage uniforms, with current Bundeswehr desert camo on the left and the new pattern on the right.

LOL!
At first glance I thought, "Oh, that must be the new stuff on the left..." because the uniforms on the right pop out of the background so much more.

Maybe the writer got it backwards...

[Moltke]

“How not to be seen.” Cue the Liberty Bell march...

[Secret Agent Man]

infrared. won’t fake that.

[TigersEye]

How well would Space Blanket type material hide a body from FLIR?

[TADSLOS]

It depends on a variety of factors, including ambient air and surface temperatures around the blanket that will determine its blending in capability, (lack of) effectiveness of covering body parts for long durations and difficulty in defeating stand off range of sytems equipped with FLIR which can usually detect targets before the targets even know they are being observed.

Short answer- do-able with alot of constraints. You might get lucky. You probably won't.

[TigersEye]

Thanks. The question wasn’t just about intentionally hiding, although I was interested in that, but also about situations where you might want to be found. Like being lost in the woods. You’d like searchers to find you while also trying to avoid hypothermia.

[gandalftb]

Good post.

FLIR detects thermal radiation.

NVS detects visible light that is reflected by a light source (that can be detected by others).

Unless you are stone cold, FLIR will spot you. It is so crispy, I was in a field class when FLIR first deployed and could easily tell a 5.56 round in a pocket from a 7.62 round in the other pocket.

No burqa or any other clothing can evade FLIR.

[wrench]

If you look, the new camo (and it is camouflage, not a cloak of invisibility) includes hoodies, facemasks and gloves. These were not a normal part of camo in the past.

Like the article said, a lot of work went into reducing the IR signature.

IR detection equipment isn’t the end all-be all. It has limitations, like every other technology. That the Germans have been working on hiding IR emissions from troops is not surprising at all.

[JoeFromSidney]

My brother in law works for FLIR’s competitor.

Those are some bad ass thermal sites.

Id love one but $6,000 is too rich for my blood.

An outfit called Torrey Pines Logic makes a thermal sight for about $500. Obviously not in the same league as the $6K ones, but it's about the same price as a good optical sight. Comes ready to mount on a Picatinny Rail. Max range about 100 yards. Works reasonably well. When good weather arrives, I'm going to mount it on one of my rifles and get it sighted in.

Available from Sportsmans Guide.

Disclaimer: I have no connection with either Torrey Pines Logic or Sportsmans Guide.