It is technology vs technology.
BAE Systems has developed technology or surface material called “Adaptiv” a patented technology “based on sheets of hexagonal ‘pixels'”.
What the technology does is allow armoured vehicles such as tanks, APCs or any sort of vehicle be either invisible under the illusion of another object while under the view-sights of infra-red technology.
According to tests by the company, they made a CV-90 armoured vehicle invisible or appear as other objects such as a car.
Where is this technology useful?
Quite obviously this type of technology is future technology which BAE Systems and other global defense companies have been investing in. With current and previous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this technology would not have proved very useful.
The only use for this technology today is for anyone opposing western technology militarily. Since this technology can be used to possibly disguise large weapons systems. The technology can also be proved very useful if it can be adapted to foot soldiers. Or if we bring up the recent Libyan situation, it would have proved useful for Col. Gadaffi’s forces that were bombed through sights of aircraft utilizing infra-red. Instead what the pilots would have been seeing was nothing or cars out in the desert. Though I guess the pilots could still have used their eyes. (Especially spotting a large tank out in the desert, so that point is quite moot) However if for example you hid an anti-air vehicle with this technology, it would make any pilot think twice and by that time the aircraft could be fired at.
How does BAE System’s “Adaptiv” work?
“Adaptiv” is based on hexagonal pixels that can change temperature very quickly. Each pixel can be resized to resemble an image to that of a library of vehicles or objects such as a rock, animals, warships and other vehicles.