The Indian Army is demanding what might well nigh be impossible: an electronic system that renders its armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) "completely invisible" to all forms of electronic devices such as radar and to visual sensors.

It also apparently wants a "camouflage system" to make its AFVs undetectable by the human eye.

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An army report said modern sensors locate armored vehicle by the heat these vehicles emit and by their radar reflections. To ensure the safety of its AFVs, the army desires protective systems that render its AFVs "completely invisible."

"The sensors are fitted right from satellites, aircrafts, helicopters, UAVs in the third dimension to the ground-based long range surveillance equipment operating continuously during day and night. Thus, camouflage now is a necessity for survivability of the force right from the time it moves out of its permanent locations to the time it prosecutes its might on the enemy," said the report.

Last month, the army released a report entitled the "Compendium of Problem Statements, Volume II" to familiarize industry and the scientific community with the problems it confronts on future battlefields, and to develop solutions to these problems.

The only camouflage employed by army AFVs are paints and multispectral camouflage nets effective only against visual observation. These passive methods, however, don't provide the level of protection required in future conflicts.

The army is asking industry to develop an "electronic camouflage solution" that enables AFVs to blend with their surroundings. This solution will also change the image of the hull in concert with the changing environment.

Another but more fantastic solution the army wants developed is "Quantum Stealth," a system being developed by a Canadian company where a special material makes a vehicle invisible by bending the light waves around the vehicle. The special material also suppresses infrared and thermal signatures, and also the shadow of the vehicle.