Printed electronics based adaptive decoy: Invited paper

Decoys can be used in warfare to affect the enemy intelligence and situational awareness as well as to protect military equipment and soldiers. Since much of current and especially future, reconnaissance is based on advanced wide spectral range sensors, especially airborne sensors carried by drones and satellites, it is imperative that a modern decoy is capable of creating a credible sensor signature in the most commonly used sensors. For this goal, a foil system was designed and fabricated using printed electronics technologies that has sensor responses to thermal imaging, radar and visible or hyperspectral imaging. The foil has a matrix of heating elements, which can be heated in an arbitrary pattern to form any thermal signature desired. Radar response was created by laminating a metal layer on the foil. The foil was painted with a layer of camouflage paint in order to achieve authentic hyperspectral and visible response. The roll-to-roll manufactured, general-purpose decoy foil allows mass production scale benefits since the same foil can be used to mimic any target by using a programmable heater controller.