# Military eyes adaptive camouflage, self-repairing clothing for future troops



## daftandbarmy (28 Jan 2021)

But it still won't hide you from an angry CSM looking for a work party late on a Friday afternoon 

​Military eyes adaptive camouflage, self-repairing clothing for future troops​​The Department of National Defence is partnering with universities and industry to create cutting-edge clothing and armour for military personnel. 

From chameleon-inspired camouflage to clothing that mends itself when damaged, the Department of National Defence is looking to outfit Canadian troops with next-wave gear that provides better protection — and less detection — on the battlefield.

Those are just two technologies in a long list of cutting-edge scientific advancements that DND is spending $9 million over three years to research, spearheaded by five Canadian universities.

"Adaptive camouflage would be more like a chameleon where, depending on your background, your camouflage will modify itself. So if you are in front of a dark wall, your camouflage could be darker. If you are in front of a whiter wall, your camouflage would be lighter," said Eric Fournier, director general of innovation with DND.   

That technology exists and is being worked on right now, he said. 

Fournier and the researchers working for DND are tight-lipped on details about how effective this kind of technology is and exactly how it works. DND did not supply CBC with any images of the proposed designs.



			https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/military-research-technology-combat-protection-1.5889528


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## dangerboy (28 Jan 2021)

This is fairly common for most countries to engage in research, even if it just becomes proof of concept. The data most like will end up in  the hands of DRDC scientists for research papers.


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## FJAG (28 Jan 2021)

daftandbarmy said:


> But it still won't hide you from an angry CSM looking for a work party late on a Friday afternoon
> 
> Those are just two technologies in a long list of cutting-edge scientific advancements that DND is spending $9 million over three years to research, spearheaded by five Canadian universities.



Or we could have bought two 155mm Archer SP howitzers. Frick!!!

😠


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## Weinie (28 Jan 2021)

FJAG said:


> Or we could have bought two 155mm Archer SP howitzers. Frick!!!
> 
> 😠


Military eyes adaptive camouflage, *self-repairing clothing* for future troops​
It had better be cost neutral. If not, the impact at the Strat and Op Level, where those  self-proclaimed 'supporters and enablers" insist on wearing combats, could alone bankrupt us.


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## OldSolduer (28 Jan 2021)

Weinie said:


> Military eyes adaptive camouflage, *self-repairing clothing* for future troops​
> It had better be cost neutral. If not, the impact at the Strat and Op Level, where those  self-proclaimed 'supporters and enablers" insist on wearing combats, could alone bankrupt us.


Maybe the chair warmers need to wear DEU vice operational clothing. Just a suggestion.


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## FJAG (28 Jan 2021)

OldSolduer said:


> Maybe the chair warmers need to wear DEU vice operational clothing. Just a suggestion.


That raises a good point. Will the cloth in the butt repair itself after too much chair warming?

🙂


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## Oldgateboatdriver (28 Jan 2021)

daftandbarmy said:


> DND did not supply CBC with any images of the proposed designs.



Actually, they did... But the CBC failed to see the adaptive camouflaged picture for what it was.


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## CBH99 (28 Jan 2021)

My great grandkids can will be able to buy it 2nd hand before a deployment.  Great news!!


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## Dale Denton (28 Jan 2021)

Unless it's a secret game-changer, this is a great way to waste money. As FJAG put it, this money could've been put towards one of the many capability gaps or shortcomings the CF has. I'm particularly irked by:



> Eric Fournier, the director general of innovation for DND, said research into improving military gear can take years and there's no guarantee of a final product.



So what's the point of this then? Make stuff that doesn't exist yet? I'd love to see the peachy reality in 2030 where a rifleman is wearing ironman self-stitching nano-suits while only shooting a 1945 Browning HP. _Get the basics right before going into the future._ One side is working on AI and the other is struggling to get 2010 era plate carriers or replacing 1940s-tech artillery.

 I don't see the private sector developing anything like this, as i'm sure [enter overpriced outdoor gear manufacturer] would've made progress on their own.


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## Navy_Pete (28 Jan 2021)

Wearable textiles is a potentially huge product and they've made massive gains in the last decade or so. In the grand scheme of things 9 million spread out over three years at five universities on a variety of projects (adaptive camo is only one thing on a list) is SFA, and lots of normal, everyday tech comes out of military R&D.

The camo was probably just the biggest headline grabber, but they will probably come up with some interesting data on a bunch of different things and some of it might even lead to something useful.

Most research doesn't lead directly to a practical application, but usually practical discoveries are built on hundreds of previous bits of research. Some of it just shows what doesn't work.   🤷‍♂️ 

Anyway, all that crazy star trek tech started out as a made up prop, but that has inspired a bunch of real inventions. Cool stuff like active camo gets people excited about the possibilities and STEM in general, and that's the kind of thing that sustains you through the grind of actual research. No one enjoys doing 100 titrations, but you usually forget that you needed to do all that when it leads to you getting to blow things up (on purpose) or otherwise play mad scientist (in a controlled kind of way backed up by hard earned knowledge).


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## MilEME09 (28 Jan 2021)

I don't see active Camouflage being cheap enough for the troops to wear, but what about cam nets or vehicle cam cover systems? Could be a game changer for armoured warfare.


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## Colin Parkinson (29 Jan 2021)

Self repairing uniform done cheap = Solider+sewing kit+few sewing lessons

Thank you, can I have $15,000 for my consulting fee?


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## CBH99 (29 Jan 2021)

Colin Parkinson said:


> Self repairing uniform done cheap = Solider+sewing kit+few sewing lessons
> 
> Thank you, can I have $15,000 for my consulting fee?


Ya know... keep the business proposal somewhat vague, use the right wording, and apply on the GoC contracting website - and you might just get that $15,000


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## daftandbarmy (29 Jan 2021)

Colin Parkinson said:


> Self repairing uniform done cheap = Solider+sewing kit+few sewing lessons
> 
> Thank you, can I have $15,000 for my consulting fee?


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## daftandbarmy (29 Jan 2021)

Navy_Pete said:


> Wearable textiles is a potentially huge product and they've made massive gains in the last decade or so. In the grand scheme of things 9 million spread out over three years at five universities on a variety of projects (adaptive camo is only one thing on a list) is SFA, and lots of normal, everyday tech comes out of military R&D.
> 
> The camo was probably just the biggest headline grabber, but they will probably come up with some interesting data on a bunch of different things and some of it might even lead to something useful.
> 
> ...



FYI: A short article on 'Smart Clothing Technology', which is kind of interesting:

APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES OF SMART CLOTHING​








						Applications and Challenges of Smart Clothing
					

Unlike many wearables that are strapped on the user’s arms or legs for pure functionality, smart clothing technology is giving rise to comfortable garment wearables that are tailored for form as much as function.




					www.bbntimes.com


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## Navy_Pete (29 Jan 2021)

daftandbarmy said:


> FYI: A short article on 'Smart Clothing Technology', which is kind of interesting:
> 
> APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES OF SMART CLOTHING​
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing, that's pretty interesting.

I did some work about a decade ago on some of the precursors to this. There are some known plastics that will change colour based on the current, and others that expand and contract based on the voltage. One neat application of the second one was that you could make flexible rolls of it that behaved similar to muscles for use in prosthetics, but they were also looking at it for reactive shock mounts that actively countered the vibrations and movement.

Lots of pretty cool applications for all this kind of stuff. Not sure if we'll ever get to a useful active camo (that isn't easily defeated by basic sensors) but pretty glad we're funding this kind of research.


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## CBH99 (29 Jan 2021)

That actually is really impressive, and always reminds me of how smart & sharp some folks are.

Using electricity to expand or contract certain types of plastics to counter the impacts of an IED are the work of someone's brain that works far better than mine, wow 🤯

Interesting applications indeed


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## IRepoCans (29 Jan 2021)

Electroactive polymers are pretty cool, they have some interesting potential for load carriage and artificial muscle tissue like structures.


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## Colin Parkinson (29 Jan 2021)

CBH99 said:


> That actually is really impressive, and always reminds me of how smart & sharp some folks are.
> 
> Using electricity to expand or contract certain types of plastics to counter the impacts of an IED are the work of someone's brain that works far better than mine, wow 🤯
> 
> Interesting applications indeed


Your pants clench ever time you fart, that would be interesting


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## daftandbarmy (29 Jan 2021)

Navy_Pete said:


> Thanks for sharing, that's pretty interesting.
> 
> I did some work about a decade ago on some of the precursors to this. There are some known plastics that will change colour based on the current, and others that expand and contract based on the voltage. One neat application of the second one was that you could make flexible rolls of it that behaved similar to muscles for use in prosthetics, but they were also looking at it for reactive shock mounts that actively countered the vibrations and movement.
> 
> Lots of pretty cool applications for all this kind of stuff. Not sure if we'll ever get to a useful active camo (that isn't easily defeated by basic sensors) but pretty glad we're funding this kind of research.





IRepoCans said:


> Electroactive polymers are pretty cool, they have some interesting potential for load carriage and artificial muscle tissue like structures.


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## Navy_Pete (30 Jan 2021)

CBH99 said:


> That actually is really impressive, and always reminds me of how smart & sharp some folks are.
> 
> Using electricity to expand or contract certain types of plastics to counter the impacts of an IED are the work of someone's brain that works far better than mine, wow 🤯
> 
> Interesting applications indeed



Was mostly looking at ships; equipment has special rubber footing to absorb a shock load and vibrations. It works both ways, so you don't get noise going into the hull and stuff still works after the ship rocks around. Not sure how the shock loads compare to an IED blast (smaller explosion but much closer), but think they have similar requirements for combat vehicles. For context, the full ship shock trial sets off a 10,000 pound charge underwater a certain standoff distance from the ship, so you get slammed by a big underwater shockwave.  Here's a video from the USN test on the littoral ship;






I was on the last RCN ship to do our equivalent for FELEX, it was crazy. All the shock mounts work though!

There are some types of metal that create a voltage under tension/compression, so they had a prototype at DRDC to combine the two. Not sure if it worked properly, but the idea was the metal would take some kind of deformation and the plastic bit would get activated to counter the movement. Definitely would have been awesome if it worked, but one of those things were the unfortunate reality of tensile strength limits of materials rains on your parade.

A lot of exploratory science is like that though; you try something, figure out what works and what doesn't and eventually run through a spiral to hopefully get something useful.

A variation of the same plastic also changed colours (from yellow to purple) when you applied a voltage, but required a lot of power and usually burnt out pretty quickly. It was pretty fun to play with though, and basically just got applied as a liquid and would leave a conductive plastic film behind when the solvent evaporated. Ran through a whack of different scenarios and never really got anything useful, but the results got published so anyone else can read through it and keep moving it forward.


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