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British agency funds technology to develop "invisibility cloak" for military vehicles

Xinhua, September 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

One of the main weapons in the armoury of boy wizard Harry Potter in the fictional stories by J K Rowling was his invisibility cloak.

Now fact may turn into fiction with an "invisibility cloak" for military vehicles, boosted by funding announced Wednesday by a British government agency.

The Center for Defense Enterprise (CDE) has awarded the funding to a company in Bristol called Folium Optics to help it develop its technology for adaptive camouflage: camouflage that can change its colour to better match the background.

The proof-of-concept research funding has allowed Folium Optics to successfully demonstrate solutions that can switch between any of the colours normally used in camouflage.

A spokesman at CDE, based at Harwell in Oxfordshire, said: "In the future, a total system using this adaptive camouflage could be used on a vehicle to allow the crew to switch between different camouflage patterns depending on the type of terrain they are operating in.

"Folium Optics uses plastic as the core technology of the adaptive camouflage, which means it's robust, thin and can be any shape - even curved. The displays used in the technology are very efficient, have very low power consumption and work well, even in bright sunlight."

Stephen Kitson, managing director, Folium Optics said: "The funding and support from CDE has allowed us to engage for the first time in the defense sector. It's enabled us to significantly advance the state of the art and to rapidly explore the opportunities in this sector."

Folium Optics, which only employs seven people, was founded in November 2013 to develop novel plastic display technologies. It has already developed an animated style of reflectors to make it safer for cyclists, and special glasses to protect pilots from the dangers of laser lights maliciously pointed at airline cockpits.

CDE, part of the government's Defense Science and Technology Laboratory, is tasked with funding novel, high-risk, high-potential-benefit research. It works with the broadest possible range of science and technology providers, including academia and small companies, to develop cost-effective capabilities for British armed forces and national security. Endit