WWI-Era Dazzle Camouflage Could Protect Modern Military Vehicles Even Better than Old Ones
By Rebecca Boyle Posted 06.02.2011 at 11:45 am Popular Science EXCERPT:
Back in World Wars I and II, warships were painted with odd, cubist-looking geometric designs intended to confuse attacking weapons systems. But other than looking cool, no one was sure if these zebra-esque paint jobs accomplished much. Now a new study says the designs can protect modern military craft even better than they did in the past.
The designs, called dazzle camouflage, are supposed to throw off an enemys perception of a ships size, shape, speed and direction all key variables when launching a torpedo attack. The study, conducted at the University of Bristol, England, is the first to show that dazzle camouflage can actually work.
High-contrast dazzle camouflage could throw off an attackers perception of a targets speed by a wide enough margin to cause a miss, the researchers said.
In a typical situation involving an (rocket-propelled grenade) attack on a Land Rover, the reduction in perceived speed would be sufficient to make the grenade miss where it was aimed by about a meter
END EXCERPT
This is just neat. Here is Wikipedia's article on Dazzle camouflage. Some weirdly cool looking stuff. Makes me want to paint my pick up.
By Rebecca Boyle Posted 06.02.2011 at 11:45 am Popular Science EXCERPT:
Back in World Wars I and II, warships were painted with odd, cubist-looking geometric designs intended to confuse attacking weapons systems. But other than looking cool, no one was sure if these zebra-esque paint jobs accomplished much. Now a new study says the designs can protect modern military craft even better than they did in the past.
The designs, called dazzle camouflage, are supposed to throw off an enemys perception of a ships size, shape, speed and direction all key variables when launching a torpedo attack. The study, conducted at the University of Bristol, England, is the first to show that dazzle camouflage can actually work.
High-contrast dazzle camouflage could throw off an attackers perception of a targets speed by a wide enough margin to cause a miss, the researchers said.
In a typical situation involving an (rocket-propelled grenade) attack on a Land Rover, the reduction in perceived speed would be sufficient to make the grenade miss where it was aimed by about a meter
END EXCERPT
This is just neat. Here is Wikipedia's article on Dazzle camouflage. Some weirdly cool looking stuff. Makes me want to paint my pick up.
