Ukrainian volunteers develop a cape that can mask soldiers from thermal imagers

Ukrainian volunteers created a poncho for soldiers to mask them from a thermal imager. The cape also protects the human body from wind and water.

One of the developers, co-founder of the Pryvid project, Serhii Smaliuk, announced the invention for the armed forces, Ukraine's national broadcaster Suspilne reports.

What is the problem?

The russian forces have used thermal imagers to detect Ukrainian defenders even in the dark.

What is the solution?

Serhii Smaliuk and a partner project in Rivne created a cape for defenders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which masks from thermal imaging. According to Smaliuk, a patent has already been obtained for the invention.

How does it work?

Before the start of the invasion, Serhii's company was engaged in sewing clothes.

The volunteer noted that his company initially developed winter camouflage suits from expensive fabric from another country. The suits were of good quality, but they were too expensive.

"So, our goal was to preserve the essence of the gear that shields from the thermal imager, but that the price would not be so stinging," Smaliuk noted.

He added that the heat-reflective poncho was tested in daylight in the city at a distance of up to 50 meters. The equipment was also sent for field testing with the military.

According to the armed forces soldier with the call sign Khmel, intelligence officers may need the capes first for special operations.