I'm sure I saw a tank moo-ve: 'invisibility cloak' could make armoured vehicles look like cows

Military scientists have designed a new invisibility cloak which could protect tanks from heat seeking missiles.

The new technology has scanners to read nearby buildings and terrain and can reproduce their pattern of hot and cold on panels on the hull of the vehicle.

An infrared image is then produced, allowing the machine to blend into it's environment and ultimately tricking the enemy into thinking it might be a car or even a cow.

New technology: An invisibility cloak could help disguise military tanks in the middle

The device has been developed by BAE System's scientists in Sweden where full trials will be carried out in the next two years.

The research about the device, called Adaptiv, has also been submitted to Britain's Ministry of Defence for consideration.

Hexagonal metal plates - about the size of someone's hand - which can be heated or cooled quickly, could be used to disguise buildings, ships or low-flying helicopters.

About 1,000 would be needed to cover a small tank.

The project director, Peter Sjolund, told The Sunday Times that the system works as a thermal television screen.



'It also carries a library of images. In an urban environment, you might want to appear as a car, or in a harbour a parked tank could appear as a container,' he said.



Mr Sjolund said that if pictures from the library were not suitable then the user would be able to grab an image of a nearby object and use that instead.

Professor Sir John Pendry at Imperial College London said the effect of the product depends on where the enemy is standing and a different angle might give a far less convincing image.

However, he said future developments could be even more sophisticated.

The technology will use scanners to reproduce patters of hot and cold and could end up disguising the tank as a cow



