Solutions to win: Zaporizhzhia volunteers craft military ponchos with thermal imaging protection

Volunteers from Zaporizhzhia have created and are currently making ponchos that provide thermal imaging protection for Ukrainian defenders.

Ukrinform writes about it.

What is the problem?

It is essential to shield Ukrainian soldiers in the darkness from the occupiers' thermal imagers.

What is the solution?

This is why volunteers from Zaporizhzhia have created and made ponchos with thermal imaging protection for the military.

"The poncho is sewn from a special fabric that protects against infrared radiation, it is strong and light at the same time, and it has water-resistant impregnation," Olena Hrekova, the head of the tailoring workshop of "Palianytsia" Charity Fund, said.

She mentioned that it took five versions to develop the perfect protective poncho.

"We attempted to create a poncho using a thinner material, but it lacked the thermal imaging protection of our current one. After testing, we found that our current fabric provides 2 hours of protection against thermal imaging," Hrekova said.

How does it work?

Vasyl Busharov, a volunteer from Zaporizhzhia and the founder of the Vlasnoruch Charity Fund, pointed out that the poncho is lightweight and keeps one warm. It can also be combined with other raincoats to create a makeshift blanket. This can help conceal a car from thermal imaging or protect a dugout and positions.

"There are three layers here: the top is the fabric shielding against infrared radiation. Beneath that is a thermal insert; the third layer protects against moisture. We sent the military raincoats for testing from about 17 different manufacturers. Of those, only two received the certificate: one was our own," Busharov noted.

This fabric comes in 30-meter rolls, enough to make ten military ponchos. A single raincoat in green costs 2,500 hryvnias, and the Multicam/pixel pattern costs 3,500 hryvnias.

The volunteers have announced a fundraiser to buy fabric for making ponchos, which will be gifted to the soldiers defending the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk fronts.

They mention that they received a military order for tailoring 250-300 of those ponchos.

For reference:

Serhii Smaliuk and his partner in Rivne developed a cape for the Ukrainian armed forces to conceal them from thermal imaging. Smaliuk stated that the invention has already been patented.