Russian Troops Are Hiding from Ukraine’s Deadly Night-Vision Drones—But Not Well Enough
More Russian troops are wearing thermal blankets to hide from Ukraine’s night-vision drones. More of them are getting caught, anyway—and poor-quality blankets and inadequate training are to blame.
More of Ukraine’s first-person-view drones see at night, thanks to tiny infrared sensors that see in the infrared part of the spectrum—and can detect the heat generated by a human body.
There’s a simple method to hide from these exploding night-vision drones, however. Thermal blankets, which contain body heat, can help a wearer blend in with the cooler nighttime landscape.
But there are good thermal blankets and bad ones—and all of them are only as effective as their wearers are disciplined. Let your leg, arm, or head peak out, and the drones may spot you.
Consider recent thermal-blanket failures along the 1,100-km front line of Russia’s 39-month wider war on Ukraine. On Wednesday night, a squad of Russian infantry moved toward positions held by the Ukrainian army’s 63rd Mechanized Brigade near the city of Lyman. The Russians all wore thermal blankets over their shoulders.