“Lance Winslow“, online writer in retirement, came up with an interesting idea for camouflaging large numbers of vehicles quickly. In his article, “Spray on Dirt Research and Development” he suggest, “spray on dirt may be a concept worth research and development dollars.” His argument, which makes sense, is that development of an “arsenal” of simple solutions make fiscal sense in light of the high cost of a single armored vehicle. Specifically, his concept “consists of a unit with a small water tank and filler hose with a mini sump pump attachment [throw one end into a river, well, pool of left over rain water] to apply the sticky solution; the solution is fed into an inline injection on a 1.8 Hp Honda motor or an equivalent AC out put from a diesel generator with a military grade sprayer unit again totally KISS.”
However, I would say that “Lance” doesn’t have much in the way of military experience as in my recollection, tactical vehicles have no trouble collecting mud and dirt on their own. All you have to do is drive them around for a bit. In fact, most Sergeants Major would probably love to have the spray guns described in the proposal if only to clean the vehicles. But maybe a better material than plain old mud might be sprayed on vehicles that suppresses more than just a visual signature or helps deflect the blast of an IED.
