What's new

Indonesia University Pioneering Stealth Technology for Tank.

Reashot Xigwin

SENIOR MEMBER
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
5,747
Reaction score
0
ITB Pioneering Stealth Technology for Tank.

invisibile-tank.jpg

Stealth technology developed for Army tanks (photo: BAE Systems)

TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Infiltration of military vehicles to the enemy side should escape detection from thermal or heat sensor. To that end, the students and faculty of Institute of Technology Bandung or ITB will pioneer Stealth Technology for tanks or infantry carrier. The vehicle have the ability to "disappear" from sight, or "change" shape like an animal or civilian vehicles.

image44.jpg

Stealth technology in practice (photo: BAE Systems)

Thermal camouflage for military vehicles are being worked on by Adrian Yopi Gazali, Claudius Andrew, and Gregory Famalt, students of ITB 2010. It's shaped sort of like scales in the form of a copper plate measuring 12.5 inches each side, 0.4 millimeters thick. "Adjust the size of the pixels on the thermal surveillance cameras," said Adrian told Tempo in Electrical Engineering Days event in the West Hall ITB which takes place from 3-6 June 2014.

The scales camouflage will be fitted into the outer coating of the military vehicles. For infantry carrier like Anoa made by Pindad, approximately needed 1,200 scales for outfitting, said Adrian. The installation needed an extra frame to be put on the vehicle.

On the back of each of the scales, the copper plate is connected to a number of major components, such as the heatsink to dissipates heat, the Peltier for cooling or heating, the relay to turn into a hot or cold plates, as well as thermal sensors to get the temperature in the surrounding environment.

Each pair of scales should be installed at opposite positions in order to be able to read the ambient temperature for optimum efficiency. "If you're in the woods or bush, tanks will disappear from sight because the temperature follows the surrounding conditions," he said.

Camouflage scales can also be arranged so that the heat form into an animal or civilian vehicles to deceive the enemy. The camouflage is intended for night operations that generally requires the uses of a thermal camera for monitoring.

According to Adrian, this thesis studies continue testing from last year study that uses plate made out of aluminum. From the results of their tests, the aluminum plate heat slower than copper so its waste more electrical power.

But they also have not been satisfied, because copper is able to heat in 38 seconds, still comparatively slower than peltier components that can produce heat less than five seconds. Peltier thermal conductivity is also better, which ranges from -10 to 70 degrees Celsius, while the copper ranges from 15-30 degrees. "This type of material needed to be studied again" he said.

The biggest problem this technology faces is the use electrical power to camouflage the scales. Each copper scales, for example, it took up to 60 watts of electricity. They have yet to find a way out.

ITB Rintis Teknologi Penyamaran untuk Tank  | -nasional- | Tempo.co
 
Back
Top Bottom