Project CHECO Southeast Asia Report. "INK" Development and Employment
Abstract
In April 1966 the Air Force accepted on contract an unsolicited proposal by Plessett Corporation based on Dr. John Monroe's concept of cloth (man-made camouflage) detection through rotating filters. It promised significant improvements in both VR capability over heavily canopied jungle and in the detection of small enemy contingents. The Air Force designated the initial program HAVE INK, and the first prototype was ready for testing in January 1967. Development of an electro-optical, daytime reconnaissance device giving a real-time camouflage detection capability was well underway. The technical basis for the detection concept was that in the near-infrared (IR) and visual part of the frequency spectrum from approximately 0.72 to 1.2 microns the reflectance of virtually all natural materials increases moderately and quite uniformly as wavelength increases. While there would be bright and dull shades, a scene viewed at those wavelengths would have a monochromatic appearance. Although blending into natural backgrounds to the naked eye, many manmade materials and particularly many camouflaged fabrics had distinctively different reflectances in that frequency spectrum. When camouflaging mobile objects where complete masking by natural vegetation was not possible, the North Vietnamese employed two fundamental techniques: (1) "the object was made to have an irregular outline, usually by the use of relatively small portions of natural vegetation, while allowing complete freedom of movement," and (2) the object was made to match the contrast of its background. "This meant coloring the object to approximate the visible color of the dominant component of the background." Often, the North Vietnamese used irregular paint patterns to break up the outline and to reduce contrast against a conglomerate background.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 24, 1973
- Accession Number
- ADA486742
Entities
People
- B. H. Barnette Jr.
Organizations
- Pacific Air Forces