DSIAC was asked to investigate recent advancements regarding fabrics, materials, nanomaterial embedded/coated fabrics, metamaterials, etc, that have the potential to manipulate and reduce soldier electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) signatures. The inquirer was particularly interested in the advancement mentioned in the article “The US Army Has Said it Wants Invisibility Cloaks for Its Soldiers Within 18 Months”. After reviewing the article, DSIAC researched organizations highlighted in the article and associated publications to cloaking technologies. DSIAC also searched and reviewed U.S. Army Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) solicitations, as well as searched the DTIC Research and Engineering (R&E) Gateway, open sources, and Proceedings of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for information and publications related to adaptive camouflage technologies that might be applied to soldier use.
This inquiry received an update in February 2020: https://www.dsiac.org/services/technical-inquiries/notable-ti/recent-developments-in-soldier-and-vehicle-vis-ir-signature-management/.