Making battlefield targets disappear

The use of “smart” special materials has the potential to radically alter the way military platforms are defended, and used.

Numerous science-fiction-like gadgets that have appeared over the years in various James Bond movies have become everyday operational hardware for the modern warfighter.

Infrared night-vision goggles, jet-powered folding-wing parachutes, moving map navigation displays, and head-up displays have all become familiar. Other innovations, such as strap-on rockets and ejector seats for cars, have not caught on.