A Real life Romulan Cloaking Device

[Roxana]

I'm a quality manager in an aerospace (airplane) technical company. My Head of Design tells me that they already have a cloaking device whereby radar can be absorbed using clever composites. So that's dealt with with regard to radar. But how do we now deal with the visual side of things? Is a radar-absorbing mechanism enough?

(ETA I'm talking from a UK defence perspective)

 

[FordSVT]

Stealth aircraft have been using advanced composites to help "absorb" incoming RADAR for decades now, but the same techniques don't work with the visual spectrum. You wouldn't want it to either, it wouldn't render the object "invisible", it would just make it very dark.

There have been some recent advancements in what are called "metamaterials". These would allow the object to "grab" the electromagnetic waves and divert them around the object (instead of just absorbing them), so that anyone standing in front of the object would simply see what is behind it and vice versa. This would be a "broad band" device not limited to any one spectrum. Another use for the technology would be to create the "perfect lens", better than any we've ever made for telescopes and scientific use.

Bear in mind the Star Trek technology uses a field of some kind to achieve the same effect.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/P7837.htm

 

[JuanBolio]

Regardless of ways in which you might beat radar, your ship's heat signature will stand out against the icy black of space like a neon sign:

 

[bryce]

FordSVT said:
Stealth aircraft have been using advanced composites to help "absorb" incoming RADAR for decades now, but the same techniques don't work with the visual spectrum. You wouldn't want it to either, it wouldn't render the object "invisible", it would just make it very dark.

There have been some recent advancements in what are called "metamaterials". These would allow the object to "grab" the electromagnetic waves and divert them around the object (instead of just absorbing them), so that anyone standing in front of the object would simply see what is behind it and vice versa. This would be a "broad band" device not limited to any one spectrum. Another use for the technology would be to create the "perfect lens", better than any we've ever made for telescopes and scientific use.

Bear in mind the Star Trek technology uses a field of some kind to achieve the same effect.

http://www.imperial.ac.uk/P7837.htm

And then there is also the idea for clothing and vehicle armor and such that would project from itself an image of what was behind it, so it would be very difficult to see.

Imagine a wall that could display on itself an image of the scene behind the wall....it would be very difficult then to see that wall. Doubtless it's wouldn't be a perfect cloak, but it could make objects or people difficult to difficult to see. (Just like camo now is supposed to do.)