Israeli Company Develops Camouflage Curtains To 'eliminate' Soldiers
JAKARTA - The survival product manufacturer Polaris Solutions has developed a camouflage technology that makes Israeli soldiers on the battlefield almost undetectable.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Defence, the company recently launched Kit 300, an innovative camouflage sheet made from a material that provides multispectral concealment.
Polaris Solutions claims, currently there is no camouflage sheet like the products they produce on the market today.
"As far as we know, or as far as we've seen in other armies around the world, we're very unique," Asaf Picciotto, co-founder and CEO of Polaris Solutions, told The Media Line. .
"To prove it, we actually registered the patent in many countries in the world," continued Picciotto.
The Kit 300 camouflage sheet is made of a special thermal visual concealment (TVC) material, which is composed of metal, polymer and microfibers. Thanks to TVC, soldiers are much more difficult to see both with the naked eye and with thermal imaging equipment. As such, it can be used for counter-surveillance in a variety of military scenarios.
The idea for this technology was born in 2006 during the Second Lebanon War. At the time Picciotto was in a special IDF unit and saw firsthand, soldiers on the ground needed better protection from their enemy's thermal cameras and night vision equipment.
"You have to be better than the enemy and we understand that there is a big gap in defensiveness," said Picciotto.
Polaris Solutions was founded a few years later, in 2010, and is now headquartered in the Israeli port city of Caesarea. Several former IDF soldiers with special forces training have lent their expertise to the company, which also produces a range of tough and durable tactical textiles and patented military products.
Kit 300 was specially developed to take on new challenges and keep evolving on the battlefield.
"Camouflage nets haven't changed much in the last 50 years. We wanted to bring in a new type of material, so TVC was born," explains Yonatan Pinkas, director of marketing at Polaris Solutions.
Each sheet comes with a different color on each side, one for dense vegetation and the other for a more desert-like landscape. In addition, the company customizes patterns and coloring based on client requirements and geographic areas.
The sturdy material can be molded into three-dimensional shapes or folded into compact rolls, waterproof, can provide protection or made into stretchers to carry wounded soldiers on the battlefield.
"It has added value in medical use. For example, it can carry loads of up to 250 kilograms, can be used as a splint for broken bones and can serve as a hypothermic blanket," he said.
For information, Polaris Solutions works closely with the Israeli defense industry as well as government agencies abroad, including special forces units in Canada and the United States. Internationally, the Kit 300 is known as Jag Hide.
"Our product is being tested by several units, which I can't name, and we have some joint operations there," Picciotto said.
While the company's TVC products are unique, other technology innovators have recently made breakthroughs in the stealth materials arena. Last year, Canadian company HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation revealed a light-bending material called Quantum Stealth, which makes people 'disappear'.
"While invisibility was once the realm of science fiction or fantasy, Polaris Solutions has revealed it is in the process of developing a product that can quickly turn an idea into a reality. But it will take between five years and 10 years to develop into a mass product," he concluded.