Science & Technology

US army puts out call for invisibility cloaks

By T.K. Randall
May 9, 2015 ·  20 comments

Invisibility could prove invaluable in military operations. Image Credit: YouTube / UniversityRochester Harry Potter certainly found his invisibility cloak helpful during his adventures in Hogwarts, but in the real world covering oneself in a magic piece of cloth isn't really a viable option.

That hasn't stopped the US military however from putting out a call for the next best thing. In a move designed to provide its soldiers with the means to remain as hidden as possible, army officials have called on technology companies to submit samples of their best 'stealth fabrics' for possible use on the battlefield.It's an area that has seen a lot of progress in recent years, but while developing a cloak capable of rendering a subject completely invisible is still pretty much impossible, there do exist materials that can provide a significant degree of active camouflage that could prove invaluable during missions.

Some of these are put together on a microscopic level to effectively bend light around the wearer and render them harder to see while others use computerized systems that project what is behind the wearer on to the front of the material so that they appear partially see-through.

If the army does find what it is looking for then a prototype could see use within 18 months.

Source: Sputnik News | Comments (20)

Tags: Invisibility, Cloak