Russians Assault Troops Infiltrate With Thermal ‘Invisibility Cloaks’

One protective garment has become essential for Russian assault troops: not armor, but the thermal poncho or ‘invisibility cloak’ which provides concealment from infrared imaging. It is quite literally a must-have accessory for anyone who wants to make it across the wide ‘grey zone’ covered by drones. It is impossible to completely mask thermal signature, but Russian stormtroopers’ survival depends on it.

From Tanks, To Bikes, To Crawling

Early Russian assaults followed the traditional combined arms doctrine with a mix of tanks and armored personnel carriers. By 2023 these were getting cut down at long range by the growing numbers of FPV drones, small quadcopters with explosive warheads. Armor gave way to high-speed assaults on ATVs, buggies and motor bikes in an attempt to cross the danger zone as fast as possible. This approach is being superseded with infiltration tactics by small groups of soldiers on foot.

A report on Russian tactics published last month by UK thinktank RUSI report describes the new technique: “Russian soldiers usually infiltrate in groups of two to five Russian personnel, using thermal sheeting or tents that they hold away from their bodies with handles. The soldiers hang a radio around their necks and a torch between their legs to see their feet.”

The report says that when a large enough body of soldiers has been built up in a forward ‘nest’ they will storm Ukrainian defensive positions.

Volodymyr Demchenko, a Ukrainian filmmaker turned soldier, describes an even slower approach in a post on X last month: “New assault tactics: invaders crawl several days under anti-thermal cloaks. Food and water they get dropped by drones. Per night they crawl dozens, maybe hundreds of meters. 2-5 soldiers.”

Ukrainian military journal Counteroffensive Pro has this take one it: “A group of between three to five fighters in anti-thermal cloaks is sent out. .. Even if Ukrainian forces eliminate three soldiers in a group of five, the other two still have a chance to reach their target position.”

The one thing they agree on is that thermal camouflage is essential.

Avoiding The All-Seeing Drone Eye

Drone surveillance is now universal. Any vehicle movement gets spotted miles away. Soldiers on foot are harder to spot. The best time to move forward is at night, when infiltrators can only be spotted by thermal imagers, cameras which show objects by their heat differences. Both sides make extensive use of the DJI Mavic 3T, an industrial drone with thermal imaging for night reconnaissance.

This is where the thermal poncho comes in. These camouflage garments are typically made of nylon with a reflective layer which prevents body head from escaping, and may also be covered on aluminum or silver particles to disperse heat more rapidly. The idea is to make the human body match the temperature of the background and blend in, so that the warm body of the soldier does not stand out like a bright beacon against the landscape. A typical example claims to reduce thermal radiation by 90%.

The Russians have been seen using thermal sheeting normally used to camouflage positions or tents as cover. Anything to stay screened.

But a poncho on its own is rarely enough. To remain unseen, infiltrators wait until a time of day known as ‘thermal crossover’. Different objects, like vegetation, ground and water heat up at different rates in sunlight, and cool down at different rates, creating thermal contrast. Thermal crossover, which occurs twice a day, happens when everything is briefly at a similar temperature. Thermal contrast is greatly reduced, making it difficult to distinguish objects with a thermal imager. This greatly increases the chances of advancing without being spotted. Otherwise there is a risk that the poncho wearer shows up as a cold spot and be equally conspicuous, as this Russian soldiers discovered.

The Russians also prefer to advance in fog or rain or other conditions which may make them less visible.

Countering Invisible Invaders

The Ukrainians are at their wariest at crossover, and thermal ponchos only reduce thermal contrast rather than eliminating it. Skilled drone operators learn how to spot the signs — such as uncovered feet – of infiltrators. Also, some cheap ponchos may not provide much cover and leave their wearers highly visible. There are training failures too: some Russians have been caught trying to sneak forward under ponchos in broad daylight, seemingly unaware that their ‘invisibility’ does not work against daylight cameras.

Generally though, infiltration tactics with thermal invisibility cloaks are reasonably effective. Shortage of troops has left gaps between Ukrainian positions. The Russians send small groups forward until they have amassed a large enough force to storm the defensive line and force the Ukrainians to retreat.

The best defense against infiltration attacks may be more extensive minefields and arrays of other sensors (acoustic, magnetic, seismic) to detect intruders – and more forces, human or robotic, holding the front line.

But for the time being though, we are in a situation where a thermal poncho is better protection for assault troops than an armored vehicle.