Xie Hao, Zhai Jiachen, Zhao Haoxiang, Li Guowen
▲Figure 1: Equipment under the camouflage of the U.S. military's ULCANS
The ancients said: "Soldiers, treacherous ways." "Camouflage and concealment have been an important military strategy since ancient times. If you disguise it properly, you can be able to hide from the world and win by surprise, and if you expose the traces, you will be caught off guard. However, with the development of various reconnaissance technologies, natural camouflage appears vulnerable to reconnaissance by remote sensing satellites, infrared thermal imaging, and other means. Only with a specialized concealment and camouflage system in place can critical equipment and facilities survive intense detection. A few years ago, Fibrotex developed a new ULCANS camouflage system for the U.S. Army. Not so long ago, the Pentagon planned to promote this new camouflage throughout the army. What kind of system is the ULCANS camouflage system favored by the US military? What secrets are hidden behind the many advantages? What is the strategic significance of the US Army after it is equipped with this system?
1. The strengthening effect of the customized module is easy to coordinate
The ULCANS camouflage system is designed with different modes according to different needs, which are divided into type I (R/S) GENERAL PURPOSE TYPE AND TYPE II (R/T) COMMUNICATION TYPE. Under the two types, the whole complex system is divided into two systems: screen system and support system, which are subdivided into 12 modules. By changing the contents of the module, the entire system can be switched between Type I and Type II to adapt to the ever-changing battlefield situation and mission requirements. At the same time, after signing a contract with the U.S. military, Fibrotex has launched a special module based on a variety of main battle helicopters, artillery and tanks in service with the U.S. Army, such as the Stryker wheeled armored vehicle and the M109 self-propelled howitzer, which makes the ULCANS camouflage system easy to install while providing better concealment performance, and also increasing its reusability and versatility. Under the establishment of the US military's composite combat units, there is no doubt that it has created tremendous convenience for equipment dispatch and coordination in coordinated operations, and has greatly improved the concealment level and combat capability of the entire group army. In addition, for different combat environments, the screen system also has a special module corresponding to it, for different terrain and landforms, the company has designed different curtain camouflage colors, such as common snow, woodland, mountains and other combat terrain, similar to the environment design, so that the camouflage effect has a greater guarantee and improvement.
Fig.2 Snow module of ULCANS camouflage net
2. Special materials help concealment and easy deployment
ULCANS stands for Ultra Lightweight Camouflage Net System, and its main features are focused on its ultra-light weight. Relevant data show that the average weight of this kind of camouflage net is only about 165g per square meter, which is one of the lightest camouflage nets in the world. This is one of the core competitive points that the company can stand out from the crowd of competitors. Of course, despite a major breakthrough in quality, there is no room for error when it comes to durability. In terms of structural composition, the ULCANS camouflage system takes a different path from the traditional camouflage mesh. The ULCANS ultra-light camouflage mesh system consists of hexagonal and diamond-shaped sections connected to each other by rope loops, and the base design consists of strong and tough polymer anti-snagging fibers with cut patterns. In this way, even if the camouflage net system is laid in the mountains or jungles, the camouflage net will not be lost due to hooking with sharp points in the environment. Although the specific composition of ULCANS has not yet been announced, according to relevant sources, ULCANS camouflage mesh is made of a special textile material, which is a fine mesh or a relatively loose braided structure made of synthetic thread. This unique structure and material greatly reduces the overall quality of camouflage, which also makes the whole system more portable in relatively complex and harsh terrain, easier to operate and deploy, and greatly improves the durability and operability of the camouflage combat system.
As a new generation of camouflage net system, the fundamental difference between ULCANS and the old generation of camouflage net is that it can realize the defense against new detection methods with ULCANS. In contrast to the old camouflage nets, which were only visually concealed, the camouflage nets of the ULCANS system block the transmission of infrared, ultraviolet and electromagnetic radiation, and also reflect these ranges of rays from the surrounding area, thus protecting the covered object from its own radiation. In addition, the coating used in the fabric of the ULCANS itself and the material science used in it make it a multispectral stealth camouflage net, capable of defending against the detection of a significant proportion of missiles equipped with guidance systems. In response to reconnaissance methods such as thermal imaging, the ULCANS network integrates with the surrounding environment by dispersing the thermal signal and reflecting the thermal characteristics of the surrounding environment, so as to achieve invisibility in the thermal imaging field of view. Moreover, its fireproof and waterproof characteristics, as well as the net-like windproof structure, make it even in harsh weather environments, it still has the stability that is not inferior to usual, and can better protect the target from being discovered by enemy reconnaissance means.
Fig.3 The effect of using ULCANS camouflage to hide
3. Historical lessons refine strategic significance
Fibrotex USA was awarded a competitive contract by the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center in 2018 for continuous development and production of the next generation of multispectral ultra-lightweight camouflage mesh systems: ULCANS. The 10-year, competitive ID/IQ contract has a total value of $480 million. Eyal Malleron, CEO of Fibrotex, said: "At a time when more and more military forces and opposition groups are using night vision sensors and thermal detection devices against our forces, by using our camouflage, concealment and deception solutions, we can make our military invisible again, helping them to continue to keep their citizens safe and save lives." ”
▲Figure 4 Camouflage photo of the U.S. military during the Vietnam War
From the perspective of history, in the course of the First and Second World Wars, the camouflage of formal science had not yet appeared, and in order to deal with air raids and bombing, the geographical environment could only be used as a cover, and once the command posts, tank positions, and radar stations were discovered and destroyed, it was very likely to affect the trend of the entire war. In the Vietnam War, the complex rainforest environment of the United States made its army suffer. There are definitely not a few American soldiers who were killed by sneak attacks because the level of camouflage and concealment was too low, and there are definitely not a few weapons and equipment that have been destroyed. Through the large-scale equipment of the ULCANS camouflage system, not only can the original large targets, such as command posts and artillery positions be effectively hidden, but even the portable and easy-to-deploy ULCANS camouflage nets can be equipped on every tank, and even a set of camouflage nets can be equipped on every tent, which can undoubtedly greatly reduce the damage caused by heat-guided missiles and other weapons that seek the enemy through radiation. At the same time, it can also limit the lethality caused by unmanned weapons to a certain extent. The ULCANS camouflage system reflects to a certain extent that the United States will use more new high-tech means to reduce personnel losses in regional wars. Possession of this system will be more conducive to the construction and development of secret overseas bases of the US military, and will also greatly reduce the casualties and losses of equipment and personnel in military missions. Without the advent of more powerful reconnaissance methods, the United States will enjoy dividends for a long time by relying on the ULCANS camouflage system.
Fig.5 Conceptual diagram of ground monitoring satellites
Needless to say, the superiority of the ULCANS camouflage system is that the widespread use of such technical and tactical equipment will inevitably change the current and future combat mode to a certain extent. Of course, the ULCANS camouflage system will inevitably stimulate the research and development of new reconnaissance technologies in various countries, and the most likely means to break the anti-radiation detection is to identify and detect ground targets through remote sensing satellites. It is still unclear whether this move by the United States will intensify the arms race in space and the snatching of space more than 10 years later.