Smart Danish “stickers” make armoured vehicles nearly invisible
When talking about innovation in the field of military and defence, it is usually arms manufacturing, missile defence, drones, and surveillance and communication technology that come to mind. Innovation within camouflage, on the other hand, can sound like a niche area—and that is the niche area that Danish startup company DECPT based in Nivå is focusing on.
DECPT is a subsidiary of Inmold, which develops nano- and micro-structured foils. Since August 2022, DECPT has been working on developing a camouflage foil, called Camofoil, that can be applied directly to military vehicles.
“What we have developed is a kind of large camouflage sticker—I can’t find a better word for it. The foil is therefore sticky on the backside, and it can be stuck onto armoured vehicles. And the people we have presented the foil to have shown great interest and astonishment that such a thing exists,” says CEO and co-owner of DECPT Jeanette Hvam, who also has a PhD in materials physics.
However, the material can do more than conceal with colours and patterns, as many other camouflage materials do. Its most important function is that it conceals the heat from vehicles, while at the same time it camouflages several different kinds of light in different wavelengths—and it is cheap to produce and easy to apply.
“The material provides multispectral camouflage; it can therefore camouflage in several wavelengths. Light, heat, and radar are different types of wavelengths. When it comes to camouflage in the small wavelengths—visible light and near-infrared—it’s all about mimicking nature.
In the case of thermal radiation, which has longer wavelengths, it’s a matter of concealing, i.e. ensuring that the heat does not come out as heat radiation. And when it comes to radar, which is a signal that is sent out and reflected back to a receiver, it’s about the signal not being reflected back,” Jeanette Hvam explains.
“We then have a camouflage foil that camouflages in visible light while avoiding the heat from the vehicle being released as radiation. We haven’t fully developed radar camouflage yet, but we are working on that for version two of the material.”
Illustration: DECPT.
Tuning of nanostructures
When sunlight emitting low wavelengths, for example, hits green leaves on trees, it is the chemical composition of the leaves that causes a green colour to be emitted. In the Camofoil material, it is instead a physical phenomenon that is at play when low wavelengths hit the surface of the foil.
Here, nanostructures smaller than the wavelengths of the Sun interact with the light, emitting only the wavelengths that the structures in the material are designed to emit.
Jeanette Hvam describes it as being able to tune the nanostructures so that they can control the light that is emitted. This is where the camouflage happens. When asked how it works in more technical detail, the CEO replies that the company is subject to non-disclosure clauses as they work in the defence area.
“This is where we enter a classified area. We work with some things to which security policy applies. That’s why we got a big stamp on our patent, saying it’s NATO Restricted. So I can’t say anything about the details,” she elaborates.
What she can say is that if, for example, a defence authority orders a custom camouflage foil, Jeanette Hvam and her colleagues design the structures in Camofoil. Then the nanostructures themselves are made at DTU, and finally the structures are transferred to the foil, kilometres of which can be mass-produced on a machine that is currently only available in a smaller model in Nivå.
With such a machine, it is possible to quickly and cheaply produce the camouflage foil in large volumes, Jeanette Hvam says. She elaborates, to the extent she can, that the material consists of plastic and some common metals, which are therefore cheap and recyclable. This means that a defence authority can change colours and patterns easily and inexpensively.
“We are also in a situation where artificial intelligence that can recognize camouflage patterns is being developed in order to identify camouflaged vehicles. It’s therefore not advisable to purchase a camouflage solution designed to last for 25 years. Such a pattern is easily recognised. But if you can get a new pattern that may also emit different wavelengths every month, then you can confuse the AI,” the materials physicist explains.
Initially, the foil was developed primarily to be easy and cheap to mass produce, while the technology makes its camouflage performance effective. But Jeanette Hvam can also easily imagine a scenario where soldiers need to apply or change the foil in a combat situation. Because the foil is so easy to apply, it can be replaced relatively quickly on the battlefield. For example, if the vehicle is being relocated or it is suspected that AI has recognized the vehicle.
State secret
It is still unclear when DECPT can start actual production and sales. The company is currently investigating who they may cooperate with and how, as well as who they may sell their solution to, once the underlying technology is classified.
“We seek advice from the Danish Defence Intelligence Service and other authorities on all security issues when we have a technology that is classified. There are many public bodies involved when dealing with a defence technology, such as investor screening and export control of knowledge, security approvals, and so on,” Jeanette Hvam explains. “In principle, we’re keeping a state secret. The authorities decide who we’ll end up having to sell it to. So, it will probably be through that channel that we’ll sell it through,” she says.
In the long term, Jeanette Hvam and her colleagues will potentially also develop the adhesive film for use on aircraft and waterborne vessels, which, however, requires some different materials and adhesives that are suitable for the harsh environments with strong air resistance, air particles, and sea water.
In addition, DECPT has just entered into a collaboration with the Danish Armed Forces, DTU, and SDU to further develop the foil. Later in the year, the company will also test the material in collaboration with the Danish Armed Forces. In general, DECPT is seeing a high demand for the solution, and they are therefore facing a major funding round to find more investors and hire new employees.
