Will Russian Digital Camo make Armored Russian Vehicles Invisible?

New Russian military camouflage technology has been nicknamed Chameleon. It is based on electrochromic “glass” that consists of composite materials and changes color and transparency when an electrical current is applied. The first prototypes of an electrochromic coating, created for the “battle suit of the soldier of the future”, the Ratnik, were demonstrated at the Russian Army-2018 international military and technical forum.  In early October 2021, RIA Novosti news agency cited a source in the defence-industrial complex stating that the new camouflage system was already being tested on mock-ups of armored hardware.

How it works: The exterior of an armored vehicle is completely covered with small electrochromic plates, each of which is wired to computers. Using video cameras, the system scans the entire surroundings. In parallel, it analyzes the colors and structure of the landscape and issues instructions for the coating to create a new camouflage image that will allow the vehicle to completely blend in with the terrain when seen from different angles. Visit this Russian news outlet for more details. Images courtesy of Popular Mechanics and Russian websites. Our thanks to Robin E. Alexander, President ATC, alexander technical[at]gmail[dot]com, for her assistance with this report.