Safe and Efficient Production of Broadband Obscurants In-Situ

Obscuration of battlefield armor vehicle and infantry movements is a long-utilized method of force multiplication in warfare. Until the adoption of jet fuel as the single fuel for the US armed forces, obscurant was produced by spraying diesel fuel into the exhaust stream of vehicles like the M1 Abrams and M2/M3 Bradley, after which the vaporized fuel would re-condense into a dense white cloud. Unfortunately, the volatility of jet fuel as compared with Diesel fuel prevents this re-condensation, making the installed smoke screen systems useless. Interest waned in a visible smoke workaround as infrared imaging and guidance systems proliferated in the hands of potential adversaries. We propose to use a combination of proven, simple, one-pot synthesis techniques to rapidly produce functionalized carbon nanotubes that obscure over LWIR and MWIR (as well as other bands) in a safe and biodegradable form.