Coming soon: Tanks 'that look like cows'

A team at BAE System in Sweden, which has developed the new device, called Adaptiv, says full trials will be carried out in the next two years; the research has been submitted to the UK's Ministry of Defence for consideration.

The new technology has scanners to read nearby buildings and terrain and can reproduce their pattern of hot and cold on panels on the hull of the vehicle. An infrared image is then produced, allowing the machine to blend into its environment and ultimately tricking the enemy into thinking it might be a car or even a cow, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

Hexagonal metal plates -- about the size of someone's hand -- which can be heated or cooled quickly, could be used to disguise buildings, ships or low-flying helicopters.
About 1,000 would be needed to cover a small tank.

The project director, Peter Sjolund, told 'The Sunday Times' that the system works as a thermal television screen. "It also carries a library of images. In an urban environment, you might want to appear as a car, or in a harbour a parked tank could appear as a container," he said.

Sjolund said that if pictures from the library were not suitable then the user would be able to grab an image of a nearby object and use that instead.

Professor Sir John Pendry at Imperial College London said that the effect of the product depends on where the enemy is standing and a different angle might give a far less convincing image.

However, he said future developments could be even more sophisticated.