BAE Systems develops invisibility cloak

Scientists at BAE Systems, Europe's largest defence company, claim they have developed a Star Trek-style "invisibility cloak" that makes tanks and other combat machines invisible to enemies.

The invisibility cloak, called Adaptiv, is a high-tech camouflage that covers the tank and makes use of on-board thermal cameras to capture a tank's surroundings.

The cameras instruct the camouflage cloak, which is made up of hexagonal pixel panels able to to change temperature quickly, to mimic their surroundings accordingly. This allows vehicles to evade infra-red sensors and makes it difficult for enemies to detect them at night.

The technology, funded by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, can also make tanks look like a cow.

In a statement, Peder Sjölund, the stealth tank's project leader, said that earlier attempts at similar cloaking technologies encountered problems because of cost and extensive power requirements.

"Our panels can be made so strong that they provide useful armour protection and consume relatively low levels of electricity, especially when the vehicle is at rest in 'stealth recce' mode and generator output is low," he said.

Sjölund added that a warship or even a building could be fitted with larger panels to make them invisible to enemies.