Russian army combat vehicles will be able to change colour depending on the environment thanks to the chameleon coating developed in 2018, said a source in the military-industrial complex told RIA Novosti.
“A prototype of a camouflage coating based on electrochromic materials has been created, which changes colour depending on the surrounding landscape. Testing of prototypes of coating on mock-ups of equipment is underway now,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
The coating is applied to tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers and other military equipment for camouflage.
The individual plates with electrochromic coating as part of the masking complex allow it to create visual images that copy the colour of the surrounding landscape and its structure.
“The speed of response of camouflage to changes in the environment is a fraction of a second. If, for example, a tank was standing in a field and the coating had the same type of colouring, and then it changed its position and finds itself against the background of a different type of landscape, then the coating will change the colour and structure of camouflage throughout its entire movement area,” the agency’s interlocutor said.
The source added that because the equipment will merge with the landscape at long distances, there will be problems with identifying military equipment, even for a professionally trained person.
Specialists of the Rostec State Corporation developed a chameleon camouflage cover in 2018. The first prototype – the “invisible helmet” – made the soldier more protected, strengthened his technical equipment. Then the head of Rostec Sergey Chemezov noted that the material mimicking the colour of the environment could be used for tanks and other military equipment.