The United States Army wants to outfit its soldiers
with the type of invisibility cloak
that makes characters in the "Harry Potter" franchise disappear from
sight.
Unfortunately, for the army, that's not possible,
according to Martin Wegener, of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in
Germany.
"Complete
invisibility of macroscopic objects for all visible colors is fundamentally
impossible," Martin told the New Scientist.
So the army will have to settle for “stealth fabrics.” It has requested all
the companies manufacturing such materials to get in touch and is hoping to
test the first prototypes within 18 months.
One option is "metamaterials," which are highly adaptive and uniquely
structured at the microscopic level. First demonstrated in 2006, metamaterials
can bend light around the wearer, essentially making them "invisible"
from certain angles.
At worst, it is looking for something that can make
soldiers "shadowless" in certain wavelengths – and is turning to
lab-created materials for the solution.
According to the army's specifications, the uniforms
must work in all temperatures, weather conditions and terrains – preferably
without a power supply – while still being integrated with the rest of a
soldier's equipment.
Some firms claim they already have the technology,
including Canadian camouflage manufacturer Hyperstealth Biotechnology. CEO Guy
Cramer said he demonstrated metamaterial camouflage to US military scientists
last year, and that the new project will allow him to move forward with it.
But Hyperstealth is being coy about the material, so
far not releasing details about the technology behind it.
"What's the
holdup on our Quantum Stealth (Light Bending material)?" the firm
wrote. "The US military needed to
put in place the requirement, without that requirement we were not allowed to
work with them."
Contractors will demonstrate the feasibility of their
approach in the first six months of the program. Those selected for the
following one-year phase will submit ten prototype uniforms for testing.
Source
0 commentaires: