18 anuary/February 2022J
COURTESY POLARIS SOLUTIONSMilitary
(^6) Tech
// B Y K Y L E M I Z O K A M I //
P
ICTURE THIS: A SPECIAL OPERATIONS
team has set up an observation post on
a rocky hillside in enemy territory. The
team’s mission: provide surveillance of
the terrorists planning an attack from
their camp below, and then target the
commander once preparations have
reached their peak.
Down in the camp, the commander is confi-
dent the valley above is free of danger. There’s
little cover, and he’s outfitted his sentries with
night-vision goggles that would light up with the
heat signature of any threats.
The special ops troops have covered them-
selves with camouf lage that not only blends in
with the rock-strewn hillside, but hides their tell-
tale heat. The team is difficult to see during the
daytime, but impossible to spot at night.
Before the attack is set to commence, the
commander calls his fighters before him. As
he begins to speak, a pair of crosshairs a half-
mile away drifts over his silhouette. The sniper
exhales and gently squeezes the trigger.
This scenario could become possible thanks
to a new camouf lage material, Kit 300, devel-
oped by Israeli defense contractor Polaris
Solutions. Kit 300 is a “thermal visual conceal-
ment”—essentially a sheet that uses advanced
materials to block a soldier’s body heat. This
renders them invisible to night-vision sensors,
which in recent decades have become available
to terrorist groups.
The first American night-vision device, the
M3 Infrared, debuted in the final days of World
War II. Early gadgets typically paired an infra-
red spotlight with an image amplifier. The
infrared light was invisible to the naked eye, but
would illuminate a target for the image ampli-
fier. Later scopes did away with the infrared
light source entirely, instead amplifying ambi-
ent light, particularly moonlight.
In the 1980s, thermal imagers heralded a rev-
olution in night-fighting capabilit y. By detecting
small differences in heat in their field of view,
thermal imagers show a person as defined by
their radiated body heat, with the hands, face,
and other exposed body parts shining brightly.
A tank fighting at night would be seen via its
engine panels.
Through the 1990s, thermal imagers usedThere’s
Now a Way
to Make
Soldiers
Invisible
Kit 300 sheets
can be formed
into rock-shaped
structures for
soldiers to hide
behind.