Invisible Tanks, Planes and Armor Could Hit Battlefields in 5 Years

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Growler

Well, Castout, I'm sort of specifically talking about MBTs/AFVs, where combat usually boils down to, "You have to see it to hit/kill it." I probably could have said it better than I did. Even with ATGMs like Javelin, you have to be able to at least see the target well enough to get that shot off.

I think very soon we will see portable ISAR sets at least on vehicles if not man portable. Which would mean visual masking isn't very important unless you are fighting the low tech Taliban or what not and even then its kinda obvious who you are.

Honestly I see this tech as a real money hole.

[Growler]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

I think very soon we will see portable ISAR sets at least on vehicles if not man portable. Which would mean visual masking isn't very important unless you are fighting the low tech Taliban or what not and even then its kinda obvious who you are.

Honestly I see this tech as a real money hole.

Think of it this way: If we could install this kind of tech on a Stryker or HMMWV, and it worked - would you say that it would make it harder for someone to command-detonate an IED, for instance? As a scout, I would have LOVED tech that made me harder to spot.

Money hole? Oh, heck yeah. Somebody in an R&D lab is laughing all the way to the bank, for sure.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Growler

Think of it this way: If we could install this kind of tech on a Stryker or HMMWV, and it worked - would you say that it would make it harder for someone to command-detonate an IED, for instance? As a scout, I would have LOVED tech that made me harder to spot.

Are they going to mask the engine noise too? What about the tires kicking up dust?

IF they could make it work on a trooper's BDUs (some sort of adaptive camouflage ghilie suit) then maybe it would be worth it since individual soldiers tend to be stealthy. But I don't see them making stealthy ground vehicles.

For a scout to be effective it must be one of two things, Fast (Like a recce aircraft), or Small (like a scout-sniper team). Ground vehicles are neither.