Ukrainian Troops Have A New Way Of Hiding From Night Drones
The infantry’s only hope to escape from drones with infrared cameras is thermal camouflage
A thermal blanket can help a soldier hide from night-flying drones
But the best Western blankets are too expensive: as much as $2,000 apiece
So a Ukrainian firm has developed a cheaper but high-quality local alternative
Ukrainian troops still clinging to Myrnohrad would benefit from thermal camouflage as they slip out of the town
A Ukrainian company has developed a better thermal blanket for hiding from night-flying drones. Ukrainian troops badly need this new and improved blanket: some of them are cut off in Myrnohrad. The only way out for these survivors is to sneak past the Russian drones that are everywhere all the time around the ruined town.
Soldiers wear thermal blankets to mask their heat signature. A well-made thermal blanket, worn properly, can cause the wearer to practically “disappear” on the kind of thermal cameras drones carry for seeing at night. A badly-made blanket can actually cause the wearer to stand out—making easier to detect, not harder.
Examples abound of thermal blankets betraying their wearers. Ukrainian firm STG Defence is trying to do better. The company recently revealed its Chuhaistyr Gen 2 thermal blanket, which provides head-to-toe coverage and, according to Canadian drone expert Roy, results in “thermal visibility to a Mavic 3T similar to the surroundings.”
In other words, the operator of a Mavic 3T or similar small drone, peering downward with the drone’s thermal camera, can’t tell the difference between someone wearing a Chuhaistyr Gen 2 and the surrounding terrain. Invisibility.
STG Defense told Militarnyi it developed the Chuhaistyr Gen 2 owing to the high price of Western-made thermal blankets, which can cost $2,000 apiece—too much for many Ukrainian units. The company has not disclosed the price of its alternative.
The Chuhaistyr Gen 2 is made of nylon embedded with silver crystals. STG Defense claimed the inside of the new blanket traps heat; the outside reflects it. That should help the wearer match the temperature of the terrain.
Matching is critical. When a blanket is cooler than the surroundings, it appears as an obvious black shape on a thermal camera. When a blanket is warmer than the surroundings, it appears as an obvious white shape.
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
It is so past time for the west to stop fighting to the last Ukranian. Fund and promote volunteer former veteran forces, enough to balance out the Russians.. Either the West hyperarms Ukraine so it can freeze the Russian war logistic machine or figure out how to get more troops into Ukraine as Vlad did with NK Kim. The alterative is fighting the Russians in the streets of Berlin, Paris and on the open plain of Europe. A possible confonding factor is the possible re-emergence of American sanity and power. How? If the dems really sweep the midterms, impeach trump and eye-liner man - voila, the dem Speaker of the House becomes POTUS. - QED! Suspect that will give Vlad pause.