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The baseball player John Francis Daley once famously said, “You can’t hit what you can’t see.” While this was meant to explain why he missed a critical pitch during a 1912 game, it’s also relevant on the battlefield. If a drone can’t see you, it can’t shoot at you. The U.S. Marine Corps has recently taken an interest in what can best be described as a “high-tech cloak” that can allegedly hide troops from drones.
This piece of seemingly sci-fi equipment, dubbed the “Multispectral Camouflage Overgarment” (MCO), is supposed to “reduce the probability of detection” from drones that use visible, infrared, and thermal detection equipment, according to documents from the U.S. General Services Administration. Think one part the Invisibility Cloak from “Harry Potter” and two parts the mud Arnold Schwarzenegger used to avoid the titular villain of “Predator.”
However, the MCO will only be effective at relatively long distances in the hundreds-to-thousands of meters range. While hiding from drones is a top priority, the U.S. Marine Corps also wants the product to be durable and functional in a wide variety of climates, from polar to arid. The Marine Corps’ “Request for Information” details an interest in the MCO and outlines several other necessities, such as a resistance to mold and the ability to chuck it in the washing machine. Overall, the U.S. Marines are looking to acquire 13,000 MCOs by the 2027 fiscal year and 61,222 by the 2030 fiscal year.
All warfare is based on deception and observation
An unfortunate fact of reality is that the best way to preserve peace is to prepare for war. And sometimes the best way to prepare is by monitoring other countries that are fighting their own battles. It’s a morbid strategy, but it works. The U.S. Marine Corps’ recent push towards more advanced stealth tech is directly linked to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia and their extensive use of cheap commercial drones. Both sides have utilized these products, which have also inspired their respective armies to invent weapons that can take out opposing drones.
For instance, Ukrainian soldiers have been developing a laser-based weapon that can down enemy UAVs, as well as buggies armed to the teeth designed to hunt drones. Meanwhile, the U.S. military has been observing from the sidelines and noticed that the drones’ extensive use of thermal and infrared equipment has rendered traditional hiding methods such as smoke and tall grass obsolete. Given the readily available nature of such advanced detection technology, the MCO is expected to become a key tool in the U.S. Marine Corps’ belt while soldiers are out in the field.
The MCO isn’t the only new warfare device or technique inspired by Ukrainian war tactics. The U.S. Army is also utilizing an “Amazon-like platform” to order and deploy drones onto battlefields due to the overwhelming use of drones in Ukraine. However, while that system is currently in use, the MCOs have yet to begin production.
