The Army "we had" back in 1991 had the right color camouflage uniforms. Why 12 years later they were not prepared knowing at some point we'd have to return to Iraq? How many men died because they have been so easy to pick off wearing GREEN in desert tan Iraq?

BOSNIA, 1995: REAL WORLD NEEDS

A U.S. pilot is downed deep in Serbian-controlled Bosnia. He executes an evasion and recovery plan ("E & R") using his SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) level "C" training he received as an air crewman-which every U.S. marine/Soldier should have but doesn't. A squadron mate in a F-16 Fighting Falcon Flies over and CPT Scott O'Grady radios to him for help. A scratch rescue force of marine infantryman hop on board helicopters and extract him from an open cow pasture; outbound to their amphibious assault carrier, two surface-to-air missiles and extensive small arms are fired narrowly averting another marine corps piloted flaming tragedy akin to "Desert One" in 1980. Had the LZ turned into a flaming cauldron, Paratroopers of the Airborne Combat Team in Vincenza, Italy would have had to jump in as depicted above from Panama, and rescued the "rescuers".

Had these rescuers been forced to "E & R" like Cpt. O'Grady, how well could they have evaded detection? Judging from the Newsweek June 19, 1995 photos (by Peter Turnley from the U.S.S. Kearsarge) on pages 26-29 taken prior to departure, not well; neither their hands or faces were even close to being camouflaged by face paint and their load bearing equipment and helmets were untouched. Civilian water-based hunter's camouflage paint that runs off easy were improperly used instead of resilent G.I. face paint. Even what was put on was in the wrong patterns to break the face's outline up and in general not enough---bare skin and hands all around. No camouflage helmet bands or burlap straps on any TA-50 or helmets to break the outline up. Metal rifle sling swivel/hardware not taped or silenced. Some McGrunts wearing flimsy civilian prescription galsses that are likely to break at a critical moment. Bare metal showing on TA-50, PASGT Kevlar(c) flak jacket's snaps and hardware, not even painted over. No night sights on weapons in case the rescue goes bad and they have to fight it out into the night. One McJarhead had "550 cord" tied to his front side post to his rifle which if actually fired would get hot, melt, and break. They wouldn't have even passed the Army's Expert Infantryman's Badge (EIB) camouflage station, let alone a Serbian infantryman fighting in the region for years. We "dodged a bullet" here. More proof that you "fight as you train". And the pictures from Kosovo show nothing has changed 4 years later!

AFGHANISTAN, 2002

The recent After Action Reviews of Afghanistan combat by the 10^th Mountain Division reveal the enemy is using blankets to provide camouflage to hide from American firepower:

"The enemy moved in small groups of three to five fighters, making them hard to spot. "During the daylight, we watched them on the Predator," Hagenbeck told Field Artillery. "At night, when these groups heard a Predator or AC-130 coming, they pulled a blanket over themselves to disappear from the night-vision screen. They used low-tech to beat high-tech."

FORT LEWIS, 2005

"From Here to Eternity" Garrison U.S. Army Unready For War: As Seen From Space

James Jones, an Army combat veteran revealed the bankrupt and snobby Army culture as being unready for WW2 in his book; "From Here to Eternity". As Japanese planes are bombing and strafing U.S. Navy ships and Army/marine planes parked in neat rows to ward off "saboteurs" our entire force in the Pacific was nearly wiped out resulting in us almost losing the war on day 1. Despite the obvious need to drop the rank snobbery, work together and stop the non-tactical "parade ground" military, after WW2 we reverted right back to "From Here to Eternity" and suffered grievous losses in Korea, Vietnam, and now in Iraq. We are today, parking both ships, planes and trucks, troops, tanks and buildings in easily targeted rows, both in CONUS and overseas.

Are We Headed For Another Pearl Harbor?

On the 21st century, non-linear battlefield dominated by high explosives we simply CANNOT afford to play BS barracks games and keep living in rows of buildings with our air, ground and sea platforms parked in rows, uncamouflaged.

If you have ANY doubt about the dangers we face of reliving "Pearl Harbor" which we compound by base closures compressing even more targets in smaller areas, look at the satellite imagery of U.S. bases using google maps.

1. GO TO

www.maps.google.com

2. Type in

fort lewis wa

you will see a street map

3. Click on "Satellite"

Click on + to zoom all the way in on to see the clusterfucks of Stryker and other wheeled trucks

Move <--- and ---> to shift view from space to keep the wheeled truck narcissist wagons in view etc.

Here's the photo of Fort Lewis, Washington taken from space by a satellite with key features of the U.S. Army "garrison" BS mentality explained:

1. HUGE parade ground for brass to self-worship themselves with troop standing in hot sun for hours at a time. Troops have to waste hours mowing this huge lawn. Parade grounds and useless golf courses should be ripped out of every Army post and the space used for tank cross-country open terrain maneuver training or at the very least a firing range. You will notice there is no maneuver training area on Fort Lewis--they have to drive over 100 miles southeast to Yakima training center--more time and resources wasted, when we do not have the time or the money to waste.

2. HUGE motor pools of Stryker, Humvee and FMTV vulnerable wheeled trucks in Fulda Gap Olive Drab Green paint that makes them clearly seen against gray pavement. Troops waste many hours obsessing over these flimsy and tactically unsound trucks under the hot sun to micro-manage and alleviate the anxieties of the brass and their bean counters that they will work. However, the hot sun and temperature elements are degrading the rubber tires, optics, paint constantly.

So as mother earth kills the life of these flimsy vehicles, they make an easy Pearl Harbor-esque target for enemies who could with GPS guidance destroy them en masse with just a few direct hits. ALL vehicles should be painted in universal TAN or BROWN and dispersed and co-located with their units in the field at all times under concealing vegetation and/or nets to keep the sun off, or better yet IN ISO containers. Some "war on terror" we are waging, huh? We didn't declare war on 9/12/01 and we are still not at war.

3. You will see 5 x CH-47D Chinook heavy lift helicopters and a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter again in absurd "Fulda Gap" green camouflage paint making them easy targets on the ground and in the air. These aircraft should be GRAY for effective camouflage in the air and be covered in camou nets on the ground. The main runway of Gray Army airfield is only 6125 feet x 150 feet and the secondary runway is only 1867 feet by 46 feet. This is good enough to fly-away by USAF C-17s and C-130s, but the Stryker truck is too heavy to fly by C-130 even stripped down anywhere unless you want to go to Spokane, Washington. Only 3 Strykers can fit into a C-17 which we do not have many total, and only a squadron of 12 at nearby McCord AFB. If the Army were wise and transferred Stryker trucks to MP units where their road-bound fatal weaknesses would be offset by a less lethal mission and re-equipped with M113 Gavin and M8 Buford AGS light tanks, they could fly 4-5 at a time in C-17s and 1-at-a-time in C-130s to strategic distances (over 1, 000 miles). Moreover, if the main runway was lengthened to over 8, 000 feet, cargo 747s could fly brigade Gavin/Buford sets and all required personnel rapidly to any place in the world with international airports. This was what an Army that was serious about getting ready to fight anywhere in the world would do.

4. Here you see a feel-good sports field and 400 meter tracks for absurd sports PT in t-shirts, shorts and running shoes which has no combat relevance. Also notice the tennis courts. More evidence that the U.S. military garrison lifestyle is all about narcissism and not combat effectiveness.

5. Here you see the comfortable Rank Hath Its Privileges (RHIP) officer's housing adjacent to the parade ground for narcissist ceremonies. This is disgusting and not leadership-by-example. These housing units should be torn down on all U.S. military posts/bases and everyone made to live off post in REAL civilian houses to have real civilian cultural lives instead of living in the cloistered artificial lifestyle that leads to snobby and disrespect of people with less money, rank and status--people like our foreign enemies and civil populace that we are trying to win to our side. Amerocentric snobbery does not win hearts & minds.

6. All over the post are multi-story troop barracks and enlisted family housing units where the underclass lives and the under 21 year olds can be frequently visited by their over-bearing "mother may, I?" chain of command to nitpick over the condition of interior paint and the state of the lawns around the buildings. So while America's enemies study how to kill us with the latest technologies, our troops spend their days picking up trash and mowing lawns in the hot sun or freezing cold after starting the day without enough sleep doing absurd sports PT to numb them down to better control them and remind them that they are somehow inferior to the careerist narcissists running the show who want to look good and get themselves promoted. Is it a wonder troops think 5-ton trucks weigh 5 tons? Is it a wonder they do not know what a RPG can or cannot do? Is it a wonder our troops are ignorant of warfare and think they can ride around in wheeled trucks and just shoot the enemy as if it were a TV western gun duel? The sad truth is they enter the combat zone sleep-deprived for months and years at a time and are falling asleep at the wheel and dying. They are getting blown up by a push of a button by roadside bombs before they can even get a chance to shoot their hand weapons. War is not an event to prove manhood and adulthood you should already have, its not a game or a duel. Its about winning or losing, living or dying. And we cannot afford any longer to waste time on 19th century parade ground BULLSHIT on today's lethal, non-linear, 4th generation warfare battlefields dominated by not just bullets but high explosive weaponry.

Let's be brutally honest, shall we?

Where is the constructive effort to be good at warfighting?

U.S. military is not "AMATEUR hour"; amateur implies at least we are TRYING; we are not trying; U.S. military is PHONY. Its a BUREAUCRACY of lemmings who give the boss the lies he wants; not a PROFESSION of experts who act on FACTS and CONSCIENCE.

Air Force & Navy when they fly aircraft and sail ships are kept somewhat honest and combat capable because if they at any second fail they can be dead falling from the sky or in the water where man really doesn't live. To warfight they need to actively operate air/sea platforms.

In contrast in land combat, man lives on land; he does not need a platform to exist on land that automatically has a war function. He is under no compulsion to be combat ready even by platform default. Man can die on land from EXPOSURE however, and since he lives on land all the time for a peaceful, civilian life his answer to this is FIXED BUILDING SHELTER. Since man has a civilian existence means that has no military platform utility, both the Army and marines have been corrupted by building and lawn care as convenient excuses/time wasters by people who are phonies who do not want to be combat ready, they want to be phony narcissist snobs and extended adolescents paid middle-class wages.

Actives: wake up each morning sleep-deprived, roll call troop formation, do non-sense sports PT, then breakfast, some more troop formations, "leaders" meetings, paperwork, Mondays wasted in motor pool doing PMCS on tactically unsound Humvee SUV trucks, Tuesday/Wednesdays building and lawn care, Thursday meetings, Friday paperwork. WHERE IS THE TIME TO DO ACTIVE WARFIGHTING EXCELLENCE? The entire daily and weekly routine established by the narcissist egomaniacs to baby sit the economic weak co-dependants is geared around BULLSHIT (lawn and building care) not active thinking cat vs. mouse warfighting.

www.combatreform.org/sleeplessarmy.htm

Reserves: one weekend a month they arrive and waste Saturday and Sunday with roll call formation, sports PT then lunch, then yadda yadda meetings, then time to go home for the day. Two weeks in summer is fun time away from wife and kids.

Solutions

1. Get rid of static buildings: force ground troops to every day do combat things by making them live every day in tactically-sound, portable, fortifiable "BATTLEBOXES ^TM" THERE IS NO GARRISON. There is only the FIELD.

www.geocities.com/strategicmaneuver/battleboxconcept.htm
www.geocities.com/strategicmaneuver/battleboxes.htm

2. Make Reserves go to war for 24 hours each month

www.geocities.com/paratroop2000/realreadyreserve.htm

3. Get rid of phony narcissists and economic bennie boomers and replace with warfighter enthusiasts

www.geocities.com/paratroop2000/weakcodependantarmy.htm

4. Cat & Mouse Warfighting Experimentation Needed

www.combatreform.org/cluelessarmy.htm

Once we cut out all the BULLSHIT we will face the tools we have in front of us and start grappling with how we will use them in war and how to better use them by ACTIVE THOUGHT. Force everyone to FACE THE TOOLS THEY HAVE IN FRONT OF THEM their minds will be forced to THINK about what it is they have. FORCE THEM TO BE IN A WAR SETTING AND THEIR MINDS WILL PONDER hey, what if I left on foot over there to patrol and an enemy sapper team is already there?

The same intellectual development and innovation that I undertake will happen with the troops, what we call FIELD CRAFT. How can you have FIELD craft when you are NOT IN THE FIELD--but in garrison doing LAWN CARE?

A few examples:

Drive vehicles and lay smoke screens with OPFOR to perfect what it takes to evade optical weapons engagement

Off-road, x-country driving of TRACKED armored fighting vehicles to avoid roadside bombs/RPG ambushes

Finding out how to hide vehicles from thermal imagery

Shoot actual soft nose RPGs at vehicles and practice evading them

Actual hardening of combat vehicles and loading arrangements perfected not static BS "this is the SOP we've always used so go back to sleep"

The Ecotat TMP and LWSB-MP could also be used as instant camouflage in the same manner by U.S. forces as the Taliban and al Queda terrorists! IF WE ARE SMART ENOUGH TO SEE THESE ITEMS IN THIS WAY!

However, we must realize that WE ARE ALWAYS UNDER SURVEILLANCE and to start using our own Camouflage, Cover, Concealment, Deceit and Deception (C3D2) ALL the time, 24/7/365 to include where we wrongly ASS U ME we are safe back in the U.S.

WHAT WRONG LOOKS LIKE

Individual Soldiers

Bad Camouflage in Afghanistan

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wCWiWDELrA

Units of Soldiers

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekUSOVAMah0

LET'S DO IT RIGHT STARTING NOW!

U.S. Army (Future Combat Systems) FCS Program Soldiers wear Multi-Cam ACUs though the BLACK sunglasses and weapons need to be at least a TAN color for camouflage...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOCq0E3LwsQ

The U.S. Army Combat Uniform's (ACU) ACUPAT camouflage pattern doesn't work in dry desert regions and is contributing to our men being targeted by the enemy and being killed and maimed.

YOUTUBE user LineDoggie writes:

"ACU pattern sucks balls anyway. When the first Brigade (48^th) wearing them showed up in Baghdad, we could spot them dismounted at Approx. 800M further away than those wearing DCU's."

Soldiers and units can and should fix this problem immediately by buying their own Multi-Cam camouflage pattern ACUs and the necessary velcro patches for their tours in Iraq/Afghanistan:

Multi-Cam Works:

www.multicampattern.com/IMAGES.htm

www.geocities.com/paratroop2000/surviveiraqgearlist.htm

or:

www.combatreform.org/surviveiraqgearlist.htm

PROFESSIONALS buy their own gear if needed to do their PROFESSION well; its time EVERY U.S. Army Soldier become and start acting like a PRO regardless of what the bureaucracy "seems" to want.

What are they going to do? Send you to Iraq?

Time to start acting like the U.S. Army belongs to the Soldiers in it and the American people; BECAUSE IT DOES---not the little ego club of 3-star generals who racketeer the Army's actions for their own personal benefit and the nation's national security ruin.

P.S.: we didn't mention the USMC in this description because its thoroughly permeated by malignant narcissism on top of being an immoral and incompetent bureaucracy--and should be abolished at once. Google "Growler", V-22", "EFV", "MRAP", Haditha" if you need some on-going reminders of USMC evil.

www.combatreform.org/marinesrefusetoarmor.htm

The U.S. Army FCS Program (bureaucracy) uses Multi-Cam--so the brass know it works and want to implement it, why wait?

U.S. Army FCS program Soldiers wear Multi-Cam ACUs--however their BLACK NVG mounts and weapons need to be camouflaged!

The most basic camouflage is the sort worn by Soldiers on the battlefield. Conventional camouflage clothing has two basic elements that help conceal a person: color and pattern.

Camouflage material is colored with dull hues that match the predominant colors of the surrounding environment. In jungle warfare, camouflage is typically green and brown, to match the forest foliage and dirt. In the desert, military forces use a range of tan colors. Camouflage for snowy climates is colored with whites and grays. To complete the concealment, Soldiers paint their face with colors matching the camouflage material.

Camouflage material may have a single color, or it may have several similarly colored patches mixed together. The reason for using this sort of pattern is that it is visually disruptive. The meandering lines of the mottled camouflage pattern help hide the contour -- the outline -- of the body. When you look at a piece of mottled camouflage in a matching environment, your brain naturally "connects" the lines of the colored blotches with the lines of the trees, ground, leaves and shadows. This affects the way you perceive and recognize the person or object wearing that camouflage.

Human perception naturally categorizes things in the world as separate objects. When you look at a scene, you are gathering an immense amount of information with your eyes and other senses. In order for your conscious mind to make any sense out of this information, your brain has to break it down into component parts. When your brain perceives a long, vertical area of brown with green blotches connected to it, you perceive a tree. And when your brain perceives many, many individual trees in a given area, you perceive a forest.

One thing your brain is always looking for when analyzing visual information is continuity. Imagine a stack of 12 blocks. If all of the blocks are colored red, you perceive the pile as one unit. But if the bottom six blocks are red and the top six blocks are blue, you may perceive the pile as two separate units: a stack of blue blocks on top of a stack of red blocks. And if you were to randomly mix blue blocks and red blocks together, you wouldn't group them into colored units at all. We tend to recognize something as a separate object if it has one continuous color, so a person is much more likely to stand out when wearing a single color than when wearing a jumble of colors. In the jungle, you perceive the jumble of colors in camouflage material as many small things that are component parts of the surrounding foliage.

In this way, mottled camouflage helps people go undetected even though they are in plain sight. Once you have spotted a camouflaged person, he stands out, and it seems odd that you didn't see him before. This is because your brain is now processing the visual scene differently -- it is looking for a single person.

"Camouflage - The use of concealment and disguise to minimize the possibility of detection and/or identification of troops, materiel, equipment and installations. It includes taking advantage of the natural environment as well as the application of natural and artificial materials." That definition of camouflage by U.S. Dept of Defense neatly sums up a tactical ploy which dates back to the Napoleonic wars.

PRINCIPLES OF CAMOUFLAGE

There are seven basic principles of camouflage and concealment:

Shape
Shine
Shadow
Silhouette
Surface
Spacing
Movement

These are the things that catch an enemy's eye, and give away the presence of a man, vehicle, building or weapon. In the days of satellite imaging and other technical aids, these principles still apply - both at the personal level in the field, and when camouflaging entire buildings and artillery positions from the 'eye in the sky'.

Camou face and exposed skin paint

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WiMFEDCaaQ

CAMTECH offers the face paint they need with a SPF 15 sun block and they are "military kosher" with a National Stock Number (NSN) so units can order them through the supply "system". However, let's not be naive and expect the "system" to work and have these face paint compacts to actually ARRIVE any time in this metaphysical dimension--BUY THEM and send them to our troops. The "Desert Shield" model is the type we need.

CAMTECH Camouflage Technology
P.O. Box 1169 Newport Beach 2106
Australia
PH: +61 2 9918 7238
FX: +61 2 9918 4844
GSM: +61 4 0963 1789

www.camouflage.com.au

CAMTECH Manufactures a range of camouflage face paints for different terrains, including:

NSN 6850-66-130-0172 "AUSTCAM" (Leaf, Australian brown, Avocado). Popular in this region.

NSN 6850-99-942-7383 "British Tropical" (Leaf, British brown, Avocado). Popular in Europe.

NSN 6850-99-160-4210 "Desert Shield" (Beige, Australian brown, Avocado). Popular in the middle east.

NSN 6850-99-853-2949 "SNOCAM" (Leaf, White, Avocado ). Popular in Scandinavia.

NSN 6850-99-305-7050 "Czech specification" (Leaf, British brown, Black). Popular with Police.

NSN 6850-12-344-5764 "German Specification" (Black and Avocado). Not in production.

NSN 6850-99-891-6686 "British Low Irritant" (Leaf, British brown, Black). Same as Czech specification.

We are having a huge problem in Iraq/Afghanistan of casualties being created by our own failure to camouflage ourselves and our equipment. Stryker trucks are road-bound, road-kill certainly, but we don't have to make it even easier for the enemy to press the button to command detonate the land mine by being in OLIVE DRAB GREEN in TAN desert Iraq.

www.combatreform.org/strykerhorrors.htm

Its like we have lost our collective minds and forgotten every sound practice ever taught. Dismounted, Soldiers have their often white faces and hands exposed ruining whatever camouflage is on the body, head and weapon by shiny presence indicators that become aim points.

Perhaps we want to look less war-like? Look non-chalant?

Its way too late for that; we are already carrying loaded weapons and are foreigners so the locals are either already pissed off or supportive; if they want us to provide security they will understand war-like appearances. If they are rebelling against us, being stupid and uncamouflaged only makes them smile before they attack us. And it adds a level of disrespect and contempt that works against them ever coming to our side. Who wants to be allied to folks who don't even take their profession seriously?

Its time to practice what we teach and camouflage our faces and hands as professional Soldiers do before "leaving the wire" of the Forward Operating Base (FOB).

Personal camouflage is best conducted by Soldiers in pairs, as battle partners. Start by painting camouflage cream on your face, neck, ears and hands. A common mistake is to cover the face but leave ears, neck and hands unpainted.

There are two schools of thought on personal camouflage.

The British adopt patterns that leave some skin unpainted, while the U.S. armed forces prefer to paint the face completely in two-color creams.

Ideally the patterns should be painted obliquely across the face, starting at the forehead and temples, and running down to the opposite side of the face. This breaks up the vertical and horizontal lines formed by the eyes, nose and mouth. The effect is further enhanced by painting lighter colors in areas of shadow like the underside of the chin, and darker on cheekbones, forehead and nose.

Camouflage paints vary according to the theatre in which you are operating - tan and light green in the desert; light green, dark green and brown in temperate environments; and white and dark green or brown in the arctic. The creams may also contain sun screen or insect repellant (or both) to help protect the Soldier from environmental hazards.

There is a new camouflage face paint cream made in Greece that hides the heat being given off the body.

HELMET CAMOUFLAGE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi3pc0aA-oc

The next area for attention is the helmet. Modern helmet covers are made from camouflaged cloth and include elastic loops to take vegetation. When "camming up" a helmet or jungle hat, remember that although a small bush may effectively break up its shape, it will also look pretty obvious in the wrong environment. An over-camouflaged helmet can look just as obvious as a bare one.

Vegetation must be attached securely so it does not fall off when you run for cover, and should be in the local materials. For example, use dried grass in a field of hay, or evergreen in a coniferous wood and not vice-versa - which would attract a burst of fire or a single accurate shot from the enemy.

Vegetation can also be attached to webbing to break up the straight lines of the pouches. Some Soldiers sew elastic loops to the pouches to assist in the camouflaging process. The squares of reversible brown and green nylon scrim from vehicle camouflage nets are a quick and useful way of breaking up the outline of webbing. However, care should be taken that scrim or netting does not snag on fences or vegetation and slow or stop your progress across country It should also be configured so that you have easy access to ammunition pouches, first aid kit, respirator and water bottle.

You fight as you train, which is why every Soldier should take the time to cut enough burlap straps to completely cover his LBE, helmet and weapon. These can be obtained from old sacks of potatoes and cut with fabric scissors. Another option is to cut up old BDUs, though its green color isn't as universal as the tan of burlap. You simply tie them with an overhand knot to every metal point on your LBE- belt clips, canteen cap, loops, etc. Cut 100 mph OD green tape to make small "dots" to cover metal snaps.

Details for detachable PASGT/ACH/MICH LT Richard Todd Ragtop Helmet camouflage Kit:

Detachable "ragtop" camou cover for kevlar helmets

The goal is to break up the outline and render visual camouflage. Brigade Quartermaster (1025 Cobb International Blvd., Kennesaw, GA or U.S. Cavalry Store has "ghillie" camouflage covers for the PASGT Kevlar(c) helmet if you don't want to take the time to "do-it-yourself". Its important that you retain the helmet camou band to have a tie-down place. This can be done taking 2 X 9 inch lengths of gutted 550 parachute cord, girth-hitch knotting the loops on the right/left side of the camouflage band and running the cords into the helmet cover slot and tying to a helmet suspension point. Ranger Joe's International [325 Farr Road, Columbus, Ga 31907 1-800 247-4541 FAX: (706) 682-8840] has a specially made set of "turtle straps" that can secure the helmet camou band that can be obtained, depicted below.

Going to Multi-Cam is just a beginning. Even better is "thellie" camouflage suits that make a Soldier invisible from enemy Forward-Looking InfaRed (FLIR) detection. Every Soldier should have a "space" blanket for covering his fighting position from enemy FLIR detection.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJnKikgo2u4

When not being worn, the burlap/BDU cloth strips can be placed in a plastic bag or an unused ammo pouch for field use; there should be no safety restrictions for parachute jumping "ghilled up" since 82^nd Airborne Division scouts do so routinely. If not these strips could be applied soon after assembling from the drop zone, saving time trying to forage for and cut natural vegetation which will dry up and need replacement soon.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUe9haoxMFk

GOGGLE CAMOUFLAGE

You do not want to ruin your helmet camouflage by strapping on a shiny Sun, Wind, Dust Goggle (SWDG). At NTC we as OPFOR could target and kill BlueFor from miles away because of the glint reflection from SWDGs on the helmets of their TCs and Drivers. While the ultimate solution would be a Tenebraex-type glint shield until this is available, a Cover home-made or store-bought will suffice as some of our men have realized in Afghanistan where long-range target acquisition and avoiding it from the enemy is vital.

What's absurd and ridiculous is that our Soldiers in COMBAT against the enemy are having to use socks and cut t-shorts to cover their SWDGs when not in use because the Army "system" will not supply them a cover unless its "perfect" and has been tested to a ridiculous degree. They have never heard the adage and wisdom; "Perfect is the enemy of good enough". So our troops are cutting t-shirts. Others that don't are getting shot at and wounded and killed.

Soldier having to improvise a cover for his SWDGs....

There is available right NOW, "Off-the-shelf" two SWDG covers that will do the job made by Eagle Industries and offered by Brigade Quartermasters that should be bought by the thousands and issued IMMEDIATELY to every Soldier in Afghanistan and who could fight in the desert for "Desert Storm II".

Eagle Industries SWDG Cover UNLINED (Do not buy lined version! Doesn't wrap well around SWDGs!)

Details

Pics:

Goggle Cover WITHOUT Lining (GC-U)
Retail Price: $10.95
Quantity:
Color: Black, Olive Drab, Tan

Protect one of your most valuable pieces of equipment with Eagle's new goggle cover (patent pending). Our goggle cover will keep your lens scratch free and eliminate unwanted shine and reflection. Eagle's unique design and quality gives our goggle cover the versatility to fit a wide variety of sizes. The following features make our goggle cover a must have.

-Constructed with 420 denier water and abrasion resistant pack cloth.
-Cinch down bungee cord with barrel locks allows for an adjustable snug fit.
-Elastic sides allow for direct attachment to goggle adjustment strap.

OR:

Brigade Quartermasters

www.actiongear.com/cgi-bin/tame.exe/agcatalog/level4c.tam?M5COPY.ctx=26234&M5.ctx=26234

GOGGLE SOCK(tm) LENS PROTECTOR AND ANTI-GLARE COVER, REVERSIBLE

Developed by a U.S. marine to extend the life of his protective goggle lens and eliminate glare when they're not in use. Simple but effective Goggle Sock(tm) fits easily over virtually all goggle styles in minutes and can be deployed or stowed in seconds! Reversible style matches helmet cover so you'll be ready no matter what part of the world you're in. Elastic at each end ensures foolproof fit.

Choose from Woodland/Desert 3-Color and Woodland/Black reversible versions. Made in USA.

Shipping Weight: 0.31 lb / 0.14 kg

Description - Item No. Our Price Stock Qty

GOGGLE GUARD SOCK REV W/L-DES3 - GGS0246 $11.99
GOGGLE GUARD SOCK REV W/L-BLK - GGS0251 $11.99

Want Pvt Murphy in your pocket?

BODY CAMOUFLAGE

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wicYZB3QIg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyc1Os0rpeI

If the enemy is approaching and you want to remain undetected, THROW OVER A PONCHO OR ECOTAT TMP OR LWSB-MP! The use of a covering is not a TTP reserved just for the bad guys! Infared and visual detection defeating camou nets are available.

There is a new combat field uniform call the Battle Dress System (BDS) under development by Natick Labs which is supposed to have an adaptive camouflage. BDS is being produced in a single color that has been shown to blend in most environments, including urban environments. A set of spray-on marking inks should be produced so that the Special operator/Paratrooper could apply a camouflage pattern to his BDS to better blend in with the local terrain.

This is not without precedent; snipers use hunter's camouflage paint today to gain a "tactical camouflage edge, " though once used, your BDS are no longer presentable in garrison. Four colors would be produced: white for arctic, tan for desert, and black and brown for temperate climes.

Of course these colors could be combined to provide the best camouflage. The inks would come in spray cans for ease to use and to allow the SOF operator/Paratrooper to fade one color into another. The inks would be IR suppressant and would not produce their own unique signature, be iit visual or olfactory and would not degrade the effectiveness of BDS. The operator could apply the camouflage inks to the BDS uniform, load-bearing equipment, weapons, team equipment, etc.

A compound to remove the camouflage would also be developed to remove the camouflage so a new pattern could be applied for operations in a new area. Also under development is a reversible BDU which can have two patterns of camouflage for rapid adaptation to the terrain. Valuable time was wasted in both Gulf Wars outfitting Soldiers in desert camouflage uniforms (DCUs). In other cases lives were lost wearing woodland green camouflage BDUs making Soldiers easy aimpoints. Reversible BDUs will solve this.

www.natick.army.mil/soldier/media/fact/individual/Reversible_BDU.htm

Reversible Battle Dress Uniform (BDU)

Overview:

Research and development efforts in the area of textile printing now allow successful printing on both sides of the fabric without colors bleeding through.

Two fabrics have been successfully produced: 50/50 Nylon/Cotton twill for temperate environments and 50/50 Nylon/Cotton ripstop poplin for hot weather environments. Possible combinations of front & back print include Woodland/Desert, Woodland/Urban, Desert/Urban, and any print with Arctic Snow Camouflage.

Benefits of reversible BDUs include:

Decreased deployment time

Flexibility in adapting to changes in mission scenario, e.g. airdrop into a desert environment and subsequent maneuvers in a mountainous/woodland terrain

Provide equivalent comfort to standard BDUs

Reduced burden on logistics system, and reduced logistics costs

Reduction in number of items issued to Soldier

Status:

Design modifications include pass-through pockets, double pocket flaps, hinged front fly, double buttons on coat and trousers, and reversible labels. Prototype coat and trousers weigh a total of 5.5 ounces (5% more than current BDUs). Alternate construction methods are being explored to reduce weight. Other items for potential reversibility are helmet and pack covers. Reversible BDU test items are being produced for testing with the U.S. marine corps.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Last Update: 1 April 2003

Adoption of such a system will help to reduce the visual signature of the Special Operator/Paratrooper on a battlefield where we no longer are the sole possessors of night vision devices. We must take steps to ensure we actually can "own the night" with undetected maneuver.

WEAPONS CAMOUFLAGE

The rifle is an obvious straight line, and camouflaging it requires some thought. Taping scrim or hessian to the barrel could result in your hand slipping at the critical moment when you engage a target. Scrim can also snag on the working parts. One solution, which was favoured by the Rhodesians, was to paint the plastic furniture of their FNs. M4 carbines and other weapons have been painted or come parkerized in colors like tan and are being used in Afghanistan by U.S. forces. Compare the black weapons with the tan ones in the photo above of an 82^nd Airborne scout platoon now in Afghanistan.

Camouflaging the Stoner M16A2 Assault Rifle

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCV29wVpNv0

Camouflaging M16/M4 5.56mm NATO STANAG 4179 30-Round Magazines

You won't be popular at the "10-20" standard-obsessed armory if you hand back a camo-painted M16, however. Perhaps the best solution is camouflage adhesive tape. A couple of strips is enough to break up the line of the barrel. McNett offers camouflage tape that stretches and doesn't uses adhesive to stick that can be applied to your weapons without getting in the way of their function.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2yAhhU_8KA

U.S. infantry weapons are in an absurd BLACK finish making them "shoot me sticks" that help the enemy see and hit our Soldiers, killing and maiming them. The testimony of Vietnam [combatreform.org/guerrillabn.htm] and Rhodesian Light Infantry Combat veterans [combatreform.org/RLIfireforce.htm] are presented in this video; further "validating" our points. Did you get that "memo" military bureaucrat?

This problem can be solved by spray painting magazines and McNett Camou-Form tape covering non-metallic parts.

YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE.

Get off your ass and do it--or don't even pretend you are a professional.

For Optics and Night Vision Device camouflage, go to this AES web page:

Night Vision: making sense of it all?

FIELD CRAFT

Camouflage is more than just putting on a BDU and painting your face green. It involves being wary and careful in every move you make - because one careless movement by you or your comrades could be the last you make.

After a few days in the fresh air, most people's sense of smell improves and becomes a valuable extra sense. Although you must keep clean in the field to avoid sores and infection, the use of heavily scented soaps (or worse still, aftershaves) should be avoided since they can attract attention over considerable distances.

Cigarette smoke as well as cooking smells can be detected. Both cooking and smoking also generate refuse which poorly trained men may leave behind, to give a skilled enemy clues about their strength, morale and nationality.

Soldiers should carry their refuse out of a training area, or on operations. Burying it is not reliable since the smell of food scraps can attract animals that will dig up cans and wrappers. The best solution is to carry a dark colored plastic bag, into which you can put refuse, and which you can store in an outside pouch on your rucksack. Remember though that a bag inside your rucksack can split or spill. If it contains human waste as well as wrappers and tins, the effect can be somewhat unpleasant!

Since World War I, opposing forces have used aircraft to seek each other out from the air. In order to hide equipment and fortifications from these "eyes in the sky," ground forces have to use camouflage on a larger scale.

Since World War II, almost all U.S. military equipment has been colored in dull green ("if it doesn't move, paint it!") and brown colors so it blends in with natural foliage. Additionally, Soldiers almost always carry camouflaged netting which they can throw over military vehicles to conceal them better. Soldiers are also trained to improvise camouflage by gathering natural foliage from an area and covering tanks and other vehicles. Using these means, Allied and Axis forces in World War II camouflaged tanks, jeeps, planes, guns, manufacturing plants and entire army bases.

Deception

Deception was employed to great effect by Serb forces in Kosovo during NATO's Operation Allied Force. The DIA call it "C3D2" or Camouflage, Cover, Concealment, Deception and Deceit. Such measures were decisive in WWII North Africa when the British hired a famous magician to hid Alexandria harbor from Nazi bombers and the famous deception campaign that created a "phantom army" led by General Patton before D-Day. It can be practiced by units as small as a company or platoon, or as part of a major program to protect an industrial site or air base. In its simplest form, deception includes digging shallow false trenches, or taking an empty ammunition box, laying it on its side and piling earth around it so its enclosed shadow looks like the embrasure of a bunker.

Fake craters can be made by piling soil in a circle, to give the impression from the air that greater damage has been done, for instance to an air strip. On a bigger scale, fake buildings and plant can be constructed from timber, plywood and corrugated iron, and positioned near the real target, which is then camouflage to hide it from view. The dummies should also be camouflaged too add realism - but not too well!

Militaries also make extensive use of decoys as a means of camouflage. Unlike traditional camouflage, the purpose of decoys is not to conceal forces and equipment, but to divert the enemy from their locations. In the Battle of Britain, Allied forces set up more than 500 false cities, bases, airfields and shipyards, consisting of flimsy structures that resembled actual buildings and military equipment. These remarkable dummies, built in remote, uninhabited areas, significantly diminished the damage to actual cities and fortifications by causing the Axis forces to waste their time and resources.

This sort of camouflage is still used today, to good effect. Many modern equipment decoys have advanced pneumatic systems, which give them the movement you would expect to see in real equipment. Traditional camouflage is also used today, but it is not always effective.

Decoy technology has also advanced in response to modern detection systems. The U.S. Army and other military forces have developed easily-transported, inflatable dummies that not only resemble tanks and other equipment visually, but also replicate the thermal or radar signature of that equipment. To radar and other long-range scanners, these dummies are virtually indistinguishable from real equipment. A less precise decoy strategy is to flood an area with all sorts of objects that show up on radar, thermal-imaging and listening devices, making it harder for the enemy to focus in on any particular piece of equipment.

As detection and spy equipment continues to advance, military engineers will have to come up with more sophisticated camouflage technologies. One interesting idea that is already in the works is "smart camouflage" -- outer coverings that alter themselves based on computer analysis of changing surroundings. No matter how advanced camouflage gets, the basic strategy will still be the approach used by the first human hunters: Figure out how your enemy sees you, and then mask all of the elements that make you stand out.

Fires attract aircraft and so if during an attack black smoke is seen rising from a group of dummy vehicles, there is a fair chance they will be bombed. Dummy tanks and aircraft can be used to replace the real thing after they have departed, so concealing vehicle and aircraft movement.

During Allied Force, Serb forces calculated they had 12 hours to move tanks and artillery, and replace them with dummies, before air attacks began. They also used piles of burning tires to create the illusion of brewed-up vehicles, and even plastic sheeting to simulate roads.

Deception may also include the broadcasting of false radio traffic. This was done by the British in the Gulf War in 1991 to conceal the fact that they had moved from the marines on the right flank of the Coalition Forces, to the U.S. Army in the center.

Low-Observability and Stealth incorporated into weapons/vehicles

www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Y1o2GYB1s

The intention of stealth is to permit friendly weapons, aircraft, ships, submarines and land vehicles to approach closely enough to attack, surveil or jam enemy communications and surveillance without themselves being detected. Normally, enemy detection of friendly weapons should not occur or at least not be confirmed until too late to prevent the mission. In the public mind, stealth concepts centre around minimization of radar signature but such a single-spectrum approach would likely fail in the modern battlespace. Thus signature reduction must be balanced across all the threat spectrum.

As the technology of camouflage has advanced over the past hundred years, so has the technology of seeing through camouflage. These days, military forces can use thermal imaging to "see" the heat emitted by a person or piece of equipment. Additionally, they may use radar, image enhancement, satellite photography and sophisticated listening devices to detect the enemy.

To hide from this scanning technology, military forces have to think past visual concealment. In modern warfare, camouflage for equipment and Soldiers may be made of material that keeps excess heat from escaping, so their thermal "signature" does not show in thermal imaging. In ships, the major heat source is the engine exhaust. To reduce this thermal emission, some modern ships cool the exhaust by passing it through sea water before it is expelled. Some tanks have a similar cooling system to mask the heat of their exhaust.

To counteract image enhancement -- the amplification of tiny amounts of light (including low-frequency infrared light) -- some armies are developing sophisticated smoke screens. A heavy cloud of smoke blocks the path of light, imparting a sort of invisibility to whatever is behind the smoke screen. According to one report, the United States is working on a smoke screen that would be impenetrable to night vision technologies while still allowing advanced U.S. thermal imagers to function correctly. On a larger scale, the British shipbuilder Vosper Thorneycroft has developed a system that uses a series of water nozzles to produce a constant fog all around a ship, obscuring it from view.

Stealth technology allows militaries to hide equipment from radar/infared by design. In stealth equipment, the surface of a vehicle is made up of many flat planes, interconnected at odd angles. These planes serve to deflect the radar radio waves so they don't bounce straight back to the radar station, but instead bounce off at an angle and travel in another direction. Equipment may also be coated with a layer of "radar-absorbent" material. When a radio wave hits an object, the electrons in that object are excited to some degree, so the wave has passed on some of its energy. In a good conductor, such as a metal radio antenna, the electrons move very easily, so the radio wave doesn't lose much energy in getting those electrons excited. Radar-absorbent material, on the other hand, is a very poor conductor, so there is greater resistance to moving the electrons. Because of this resistance, the radio wave loses more energy, which is emitted as heat. This reduces the overall reflected radio signal.

The familiar stealth bomber image clearly demonstrates the essentially flat, angular panels which constitute the main implementation of stealth design in this aircraft. Flat panels positioned at right angles to an enemy radar reflect strongly and would represent a very high radar cross section (RCS: geometry and reflectivity contributions both high). However, when such a flat panel is tilted away from the radar direction, the high reflectivity becomes a virtue as the majority of the radar signal is reflected away from detection.

At about 30 degrees tilt, only about 1/1000th (ie. -30dB) of the radar power is detected along the line-of-sight. If the panel is tilted away in two axes, then the angle of tilt in each plane need only be about 8 degrees to achieve the same -30dB signature reduction. Naturally, when building a stealth aircraft or ship (eg. Visby corvette above), aerodynamic, hydrodynamic and material limitations influence the final geometry achievable. In addition, radar absorbing materials (RAM) are still needed to reduce the inevitable radar reflections from edges, such as wing leading edges, trailing edges, ship deck edges, bilges, mast/radar/bridge housings, etc.

Note also, the stealth bomber includes thermal signature reduction principles in its design. For example, the leading edges of the wings, heated by air friction in flight, are internally cooled by pumping fuel around them. The engines intakes and exhausts are mounted above the wings, out of sight of heat-seeking ground-to-air missiles (SAM's, MANPADS, etc). In previous designs, lights were incorporated into the lower surfaces to attempt to blend the visual silhouette into the sky background. Controlling the output was intended to reduce closest approach distances from about 13 nmi daylight to 2 nmi daylight, with similar improvements in dusk and night observing conditions. This is an extension of the long-known counter-shading principle and is used on the F-22 for example.

The Visby corvette discharges its warm air (and water) beneath the vessel rather than permit a hot funnel and plume to give away its position to a thermal-imager-equipped enemy. The HMMWV image below, shows a thermal-imager equipped vehicle intended for surveillance operations on land. However, the vehicle itself, though small and close to the ground, and much quieter than a main battle tank for example, still has a significant thermal signature, mainly from the hot wheels, tires and engine area. Even the electro-thermal cooling effect of the thermal camera is clearly visible in the image (small black area front of windscreen). This is obvious proof that infared camouflage and hybrid-electric drives for vehicles are urgent priorities.

New paints are available now to camouflage both humans and tracked vehicles from infared detection. The WW2 "Greatest Generation" learned the hard way to camouflage themselves (see M4 Sherman medium tanks in snow camo above); a lesson the current, lazy slacker generation refuses to heed resulting in needless casualties.

www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=725

Anti-Thermal/IR Camo Tech for Infantry and Special Operations Forces Posted on Friday, April 22 @ 04:49:41 PDT by davidc

by David Crane
david@defensereview.com

Remember what Arnold Shwarzenegger's character, Major Dutch Schaeffer, accidentally stumbled onto towards the end of "Predator" (1987), that allowed him to defeat the alien hunter's high-tech thermal/IR (infrared) vision--you know, right after Dutch's entire team had been systematically butchered by said alien? If not, I'll tell ya'. It was mud. Simple grey Amozonian mud. The mud hid Dutch's thermal/infrared (IR) signature (i.e. heat signature) from the alien hunter's thermal/IR vision, so the alien couldn't see/locate him against the jungle foliage. That development changed the course of the movie, creating a juxtaposition of predator and prey. Dutch now became the predator, and and the alien hunter became the prey. All because of some mud.

17 years later, Intermat Defence Coatings, a division of Intermat Group SA (Athens-Hellas, Greece), has introduced a high-tech version of Dutch's no-tech mud tactic. Designed and developed for the Greek Special Forces (SF)/Special Operations Forces (SOF), it's a...

highly cost-effective/relatively inexpensive wide-spectrum (400-20.000 nm) "modulated performance", "special camouflage" anti-thermal/IR (or, anti-IR/thermal) skin and face cream (a.k.a. wide-spectrum electronic camouflage cream) that effectively camouflages exposed skin on the wearer against all current infrared sensors and thermal viewers on the 21st century battlefield. Adhering to the philosophy "if you can't see it, you cant shoot it", this "low-cost force-multiplier" (as the company describes it) is not only effective, but also NATO STANAG 4319 compliant. Intermat had previously developed an anti-thermal/IR helmet paint, jackets, and vehicle coating/paint (mobile targets' camouflage), that accomplishes the same task (giving the wearer a much lower signature/reduced thermal trace).

Because DefenseReview was intrigued by the technology, we contacted Intermat in Greece and ended up speaking briefly with Bill Filis (Assistant Director) and Kosmas Prassas (Managing Director). Both men were enthusiastic in talking about the technology, and spoke in limited fashion about Greek armed forces' experience with the anti-IR/thermal cream. Since the current product is metallic in appearance in all its available colors, and thus reflective in natural or artificial light, Defense Review was curious to know if Intermat has a matte/non-reflective camouflage paint version available in O.D. green, black, desert tan, and Coyote brown that can serve double-duty as standard camouflage paint. When we asked Mr. Prassas about this, his response was something to the effect of "not yet". He then clarified that since the cream is primarily intended to be used during night operation to defeat IR sensors and thermal viewers, a standard/normal light camouflage version wasn't a priority at this time. My question now would be what if you're engaging in jungle warfare, and the enemy starts employing IR and thermal devices during the day? Wouldn't you then need a coating/paint that camouflages the wearer in all light spectrums? Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask this question during the interview. DefRev is curious as to the Intermat skin & face cream's utility in desert warfare environments, where the ambient temperature is often likely to be higher than the human body's, during the day.

We also didn't think to ask Mr. Filis or Mr. Prassas about the potential for the wearer to overheat, since the cream, in order to be effective, can't allow the covered area to dissipate heat normally. Although, since the user would most likely only cover his face and, perhaps, his hands with the cream, he could still dissipate heat normally over the rest of his body, so that's probably not really a concern. However, the next time we talk to the folks at Intermat, we'll ask them about this aspect. DefRev would like to thank Engadget.com member "Steve" for bringing this point up in the "Reader Comments" area of Engadget.com's blurb on the Intermat anti-thermal/IR cream, titled "Overclock your commando: anti-thermal grease". It's an interesting point, and worth asking about. We'll have to bring this up the next time we talk with Mr. Filis and/or Mr. Prassas.

Intermat Defence Coatings/Intermat Group SA can be contacted by phone at +30 210 9402977 or +30 210 9402469, fax at +30 210 9404604, and email at info@intermat.gr.

Here's what the Intermat anti-thermal/IR coating/camouflage tech does for vehicles:

PIC

Intermat Anti-Therm/IR Coated/Painted M113A1 Gavin Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) at 200 Meters in NFOV-BHOT (Side Profile)

Intermat Anti-Therm/IR Coated/Painted M113A1 Gavin APC at 200 Meters in NFOV-BHOT (Rear Profile)

Intermat Anti-Therm/IR Coated/Painted M1A1/M1A2 Abrams heavy tank at 100 meters

Intermat Anti-Therm/IR Coated/Painted M1A1/M1A2 Abrams heavy tank following right behind standard/commonly-painted Abrams MBT, for Contrast, at 250 Meters

Intermat Anti-Therm/IR Coated/Painted Abrams heavy tank following further behind (to the left of) standard/commonly-painted Abrams MBT, for Contrast, at 250 Meters

Click here to visit an informative page on Intermat Group S.A.'s/Intermat Defence Coatings' "wide-spectrum (400-20.000nm) electronic camouflage coatings".

Click here to visit DefenseTech.org's blurb on Intermat's skin and face cream, titled "COMMANDO-HIDING CREAM".

Click here to read Gizmodo.com's blurb on the technology, titled "Commando Cream".

Submarine stealth includes degaussing, to attempt to reduce the probability of detection via magnetic anomaly (commonly the first approach used by marine patrol aircraft) as well as sonar absorber applique, RAM on the masts and low-probability-of- intercept (LPI) methods of communication and surveillance (eg. spread-spectrum/frequency-hopping/burst-mode, etc). The noise of nuclear-powered submarine engines is quite intense and distinctive, such that modern "quiet" subs tend to be AIP or diesel-electric type, also smaller and better suited to littoral zone engagements (more complex and "noisy" sonar background).

Land vehicle stealth mainly revolves around thermal shielding and signature reduction, since land-radar is limited in application (Mainly top-search by aircraft, SAR/MTI at medium-long range and homing rounds). Nevertheless, attention is paid to "stealth-shaping" to reduce ground-level radar returns (eg. German Fennek and a number of contemporary surveillance, personnel carrier and light armored fighting vehicles).

Main battle tanks (MBT) such as the German Leopard I/II models, use Diehl double-link tracks, where the padded face and enhanced articulation of the links reduces friction, track noise, wear, etc. It is said these tracks can barely be heard at half the range of those commonly fitted to Challenger (etc). Rubber, flexible "band tracks" are even quieter. However, the noise and smoke from the engines of tank's still implies audio and visual detection ranges approaching 2 km. In broken terrain with vegetation screening, it may be that noise and smoke are the first signs of the presence of a tank, before thermal imager or radar detection. This is why Hybrid-Electric drives (HE) are a critical future capability. With MBT's and mobile artillery carrying extended-range rounds offering up to tens of kilometres range and first-hit probabilities, a ground force without airborne surveillance is highly vulnerable. On the other hand, a heavy tank detected up to 300km away via JSTARS or similar (SAR/MTI) is itself highly vulnerable to destruction by various subsonic and hypersonic missiles available to ground and ground-attack airborne forces (eg. Javelin, Bofors Bill-2, HOT-3, Trigat).

Threat classification

Aircraft
Ships
Ground/mobile Fixed sites
Radar guided
Major threat
secondary minor Laser-guided
Major threat
minor secondary
Heat-seeking
Major threat Minor secondary
Lethal comunications* Major threat
Minor secondary

(* - eg. Information transferred from sensor to attack-coordination center to weapon, "Network-centric warfare")

Stealthy attack

Which brings us to so-called "fire-and-forget" missiles (eg. Javelin, AMRAAM, Skystreak, etc). A further aspect of stealth is the potential for a rapid strike without a requirement to stay on position to guide the missile throughout its trajectory onto the intended target (eg. laser-riding, laser-designated, wire-guided active guidance systems). Missiles, such as the Penguin anti-ship missile can be air-launched from beyond-visual-range (BVR) and independently acquire the target via built-in radar, homing in on a top-attack trajectory to minimize detection, ranging and interception risks (via water-spout screens, Sea-Dart missile, Phalanx CIWS, etc). On, for example the Apache AH-64D Longbow helicopter, the mast-mounted millimetric-wave radar permits a fast "look-see" accomplished potentially in less than a second above the horizon-line, followed by designation of up to 6 targets and missile launch from below the horizon. Land-based horizon-search radar is set up for tracking of artillery rounds and is not well-suited to spotting helicopters that just peek out for a second or so and then disappear without following a predictable trajectory!

Cyber attack

Today's battlespace includes the cyberworld, where terrorist accounts and communications may be frozen, surveilled or corrupted, potentially without leaving traces of incursion. Similarly, it is possible for an organised enemy to determine doctrines, tactics, dispositions of resources and potential weaknesses also without revealing his presence, or indeed, to deliberately leave traces or destroy or corrupt and invalidate data for propaganda or attack purposes and all accomplished at a time of the enemy's choosing, with mimimal resources and mimimal exposure to retaliation. We have seen asymmetric warfare using conventional arms and methods, where "The West" has largely been successful so far against poorly equipped opponents (except Vietnam) but how successful will we be against cyber-terrorists and web-savvy foes.

This highly asymmetric cyber-warfare is already beginning to become commonplace as both major and tiny world forces realize the implications of having a footprint on the web network. The FBI is among many security organizations penetrated and compromised in the past and the web-entry points in the U.S. Department of Defense (etc) are still being (belatedly) reinforced against malicious attack. A single determined miscreant armed with a modem and a cheap PC may be capable of producing immense damage to commercial and military systems, usually without identification and tracing of the perpetrator. How much more damage could an organized and implacable opponent (eg. Iraq) accomplish?

When so much of the west's battle-supremacy rests on weapon-computer integration (so-called network-centric warfare), we face the daunting prospect of battles being won, and lost by a few dangerous individuals with laptops, with hardly a shot fired and all our mega-billion-dollar weapon systems rendered largely irrelevant.

There are many aspects to stealth which have not been mentioned in this very brief introduction. One of the best places to start to learn more is:

"The Journal of Electronic Defense" (published by Horizon House)

Visual and Near Infared camouflage

Shakespeare's 17th century description of Soldiers preparing to march on Macbeth at Dunsinane includes:

"Let every Soldier hew him down a bough and bear't before him; thereby shall we shadow the numbers of our host and make discovery err in report of us" (Macbeth V.4)

Modern camouflage is a little more sophisticated than simple decoration with natural vegetation, though it remains true that the major means of discovery of personnel and materiel is the M.O.B (the "Mark-One Eyeball") so research continues into optimal color schemes.

Visual Camouflage of ships/aircraft

Camouflaging warships has proved more difficult because they are always floating on a wide background that has a uniform color. In World War I, military forces realized that there was no way to make ships "blend in" with the surroundings, but that there might be a way to make them less susceptible to attack. The dazzle camouflage design, developed in 1917, accomplishes this by obscuring the course of the ship (its direction of travel). The dazzle design resembles a cubist painting, with many colored geometric shapes jumbled together. Like the mottling in camouflage wear, this design makes it difficult to figure out the actual outlines of the ship and distinguish the starboard side from the port side. If submarine or ship crews don't know which way a ship is moving, it is a lot harder for them to accurately aim a torpedo.

Before western militaries became politically correct and afraid to look warlike, naval ships were painted in the "dazzle" camouflage style to deceive the eye at long ranges. This proven technique is no longer used because all-gray ships look less warlike and more "tidy".

SHIP CAMOU BAD

Let's have some honesty here, ok?

Navies paint their ships in GRAY when water is BLUE because:

a. they are non-warfighting bureaucrats and ships primarily show the flag at civilian ports that we are not warmongers when we are

b. they are afraid of colliding with each other

Because...if they were serious about warfighting they'd paint their ships in the blue color of the ocean they are in or in "dazzle" patterns!

SHIP CAMOU GOOD

The HMS Belfast, a British ship that served in World War II, is now a floating museum on the River Thames in London. The ship is painted with a variation on the classic "dazzle" camouflage scheme.

Aircraft Camouflage, anyone?

U.S. Army helicopters in "Fulda Gap" green are getting clobbered in blue-sky and tan Iraq. Is this a surprise?

BAD!

ALL-GREEN DATES BACK TO VIETNAM!

AT LEAST AIRCRAFT WERE GRAY ON THE BOTTOM IN WW2!

In WW2, we had the UNDERSIDES of aircraft gray to blend in when looking up at them from the sky...

Afghanistan

Which is better camouflaged? The C/MH-47 or the Aerostat or the Mi-26?

Not only are our overly complex helicopters too hard to maintain and literally grounded except for dire emergencies in Iraq, they fly too slow and too loud to survive enemy MANPADS and small arms-fire. Since some of you will not listen or accept this here's two audio/visual "reality checks" from Chechnya:

SA-7 MANPADS vs. Mi-8(?) Hip helicopter
www.combatreform.org/manpadsvsloudpoorcamohelicopter.wmv

SA-16 MANPADS vs. Mi-26 Halo heavy lift helicopter
www.combatreform.org/sa16manpadsshootsdownmi26helicopter.wmv

Next, examine our aircraft shoot-downs in Iraq:

www.reocities.com/militaryincompetence/americaniraqwarcasualties.htm

DARK GREEN AH-64 SHOT DOWN OVER IRAQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPGgwBr-OEs

A recent DoD study concludes 76% of all U.S. helo shoot-downs took place during DAYLIGHT but the dumbasses persist in dark green helos! QUOTE:

"In OEF/OIF,? 76% of combat hostile action losses occurred during daylight hours"

"Study on Rotorcraft Survivability" Summary Briefing 19 October 2009 for Congress/DoD, by JAS, IDA
combatreform.org/SRS_Summary_Public_Release_10-19-09.pdf

1. Right off the bat, this should end all debate forever on whether we need much faster fixed-wing observation/attack aircraft. We do. We need to get off our asses and get some.

2. Immediately repaint ALL our helicopters in sky-gray to not help enemy gunners to spot and track and aim on them. The first video shows the fatal flaw of dark green helicopters in a blue sky background.

GOOD

This INCLUDES THE ROTOR BLADES MOLDED IN GRAY! Here is proof this can be done, a Navy SeaHawk with gray rotor blades...if there is a will there is a way...

3. LISTEN to the audio on the first video. Silence our helicopters with NOTAR. If you lose 15% of anti-torque power get bigger engines. That's too fuking bad, anyway....it beats getting shot down and dying, doesn't it? If the two helicopters were in the right camouflage and NOTAR in the first video Mr. Allah Akbar in the bushes may not have even been alerted to go out and fire at them. Get a bigger engine by 15% or more in power, problem solved.

The Army should buy the MD520 NOTAR for its 368 x light scout helicopter program not the bullshit loud and slow Bell 407. Ditto the NOTAR MD90 for the LUH. Use BATTLEBOXaircraft^TM to give them ground mobility and covertness.

Here's a pic of a well-camouflaged GRAY MD90:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4mGpefBT9w

How much does it cost to paint your helicopters in sky camouflage so they don't get shot-down and the men inside killed? The cash-strapped British can do it, what's our excuse?

How much does it cost to bury the dead, medical care any maimed survivors and replace the aircraft?

Is the wisdom, "An ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure" still an American proverb?

Or are Americans completely permeated with BS today?

combatreform.org/braveamerican.htm

Here is proof the U.S. Army can sky-camouflage its helicopters; a PROFESSIONAL COMMANDER IN THE SCARNG DID IT.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnz6Q6HANA0

4. Immediately supply EVERYONE on board every fuking U.S. military aircraft bail-out parachutes. In both video-shoot downs there was plenty of time and altitude to bail-out and survive the MANPADS strikes. Details:

Why No escape from U.S. Military Aircraft?

5. Immediately start converting our helicopters to Piasecki VTDP/wings so they fly faster at 200 mph to be less vulnerable. This will take some time so there's no excuse why steps 1-4 cannot be taken TODAY.

The video below of French marine light scout helicopters flying nap-of-the-earth (NOE) raises more questions than they answer:

www.combatreform.org/NOEtroupesdemarinealat.mpg

1. If Moslem SA-16 MANPADS gunners were in the foilage below would they have been able to knock the French helos down?

2. What would the green French helos look like FROM THE GROUND?

3. From the air, if the French insignia were subdued and clear canopies tinted the Alouette scout helos would be hard to spot from an enemy nation-state fighter plane...but is this the #1 threat to western civilization these days?

Another problem area is aircraft camouflage high in the sky. Its been found that LIGHTS--actually lighting up aircraft overhead will render them visually invisible. Sky-blue paint coverings also work well and the USAF is to be commended for painting all their aircraft in a light gray/blue color for camouflage.

Sky Camo: the OA-37B "Dragonfly": Vietnam, Panama is in service today

During the Vietnam War, USAF A-37B Dragonfly attack jets experimented with sky blue camouflage paint schemes, and it worked very well. Why not on Army aircraft and parachutes?

While the stupid U.S. Army continues to fly "Fulda Gap" Green helicopters in broad daylight in desert tan Iraq IN ACTUAL COMBAT and then wonders why they are getting shot down, the enemy preparing for war camouflages its aircraft properly: