
Anti-drone 'invisibility cloaks' turn Russian soldiers into easy targets
Russian soldiers continue to struggle against Ukraine’s drone warfare, despite being issued coats and blankets designed to shield them from thermal and night-vision detection
The Telegraph reports.
The gear, intended to conceal body heat and reduce visibility through infrared and night optics, is proving ineffective on the battlefield. Faulty design and poor training have rendered the equipment largely useless—and, in some cases, even counterproductive.
Instead of masking heat signatures, the coats often create distinct cold spots that sharply contrast with the surrounding environment. These black silhouettes are easily picked up by Ukrainian thermal drones, turning the so-called camouflage into a problem.
“This is no invisibility cloak,” Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British Army colonel and chemical weapons expert, told The Telegraph. “In fact, because of the contrast, it makes them more acquirable than less.”
Ukrainian drones, frequently operated by special forces or intelligence units, use advanced thermal imaging in combination with real-time targeting, enabling precise nighttime strikes even on hidden or camouflaged targets.
Footage captured earlier this week in Lyman shows Russian troops standing out starkly against the terrain as Ukrainian drones hover nearby. Soldiers approached positions held by Ukraine’s 63rd Mechanised Brigade, wearing anti-drone coats draped over their shoulders. Moments later, they were hit by a wave of first-person view (FPV) drone attacks.
“Funny occupiers in the Lyman region… put on anti-drone raincoats and thought that now they are safe”, the brigade said following the assault.
In another case, a Russian assault team used higher-quality thermal blankets but lacked proper training in their use. Soldiers failed to fully cover their bodies, exposing arms, legs, or heads—immediately betraying their positions.
Nick Reynolds, a land warfare research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), noted “instances of incompetence by Russian personnel who clearly do not understand how to use their equipment.”
De Bretton-Gordon added: “It does highlight how difficult it is to hide on today’s battlefield. They need to cover their whole bodies.”
Some of the Russian-made suits found online retail for as little as $47, raising further doubts about their quality. Meanwhile, Ukrainian advancements in drone and thermal imaging technology continue to erode the effectiveness of such countermeasures.
“Thermal cameras on drones are both improving and becoming cheaper as manufacturing processes improve", Reynolds said.
Ukrainian forces have also deployed thermal camouflage suits, reportedly with far greater success. Weighing about 2.5 kilograms, these suits are made from multilayered materials, including polymers, microfibers, and fabrics embedded with metal particles.
"Our goal is to disguise the military and equipment from the enemy as reliably as possible,” said Deputy Defense Minister Vitalii Polovenko last year.
As Ukraine's battlefield tech improves, the gap in visibility—and survivability—is only widening.
- Aviation expert Bohdan Dolintse says that for Russia to launch over 300 medium- and long-range drones per day, it would need to produce between 150,000 and 170,000 of them.
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