The Spanish Army tests multispectral camouflage on its VAMTAC vehicles

Camouflage has been used by various armies for many years, but new technologies are reducing its usefulness.

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Specifically, thermal, infrared, and radar vision systems are making traditional camouflage used by military vehicles less effective. One of the solutions to this problem is multispectral camouflage nets and covers, which some European armies, such as the German Army, have been using for some time on their Leopard 2 tanks. In 2023 I already talked here about the Barracuda MCS used by the Ukrainian Army, a multispectral camouflage system developed by the Swedish company Saab.

On September 2, 2024, the Spanish company Amper announced the signing of a contract to supply 2D multispectral mimetic networks for the Army, the Air Force, the Navy and the Royal Guard. According to the company, it is a camouflage "consisting of mesh made with a technology that allows military devices to eliminate their thermal or radar fingerprints." The contract covers the period 2024-2028, extendable to 2030, with an amount of 9.5 million euros, which with its extension can reach 11.5 million euros.

This afternoon, the Spanish Army's Land Force (FUTER) has demonstrated a multispectral camouflage test on a VAMTAC of the VII "Galicia" Brigade (BRILAT). "Continuing with the modernization plan, BRILAT is testing the 3D "second skin" multispectral masking system on a VAMTAC vehicle, a camouflage technology that hides people or equipment from visual, infrared, thermal and radar detection", FUTER noted.

In the images, we see that this camouflage netting covers the entire vehicle, with the sole exception of the windows and the rear external tanks. The camouflage also extends to the wheels. The camouflage netting pattern appears to be angular lines and three colors (brown and two shades of green).

The vehicle chosen for this test is a VAMTAC ST-5, a variant with a Browning M-2 heavy machine gun turret (the gun is not mounted in the photos). I think it's a great step forward for the Spanish Army, which was lagging behind others in this regard. I hope the tests of this new camouflage yield the expected results.