US Marines plan camouflage cloak to hide soldiers from spy drones

The U.S. Marine Corps is developing a full-body camouflage cloak, called the Multispectral Camouflage Overgarment (MCO), designed to counter modern military drones equipped with thermal and infrared sensors. This initiative is a direct response to battlefield lessons from the Ukraine conflict, where heat-detecting drones have rendered traditional concealment methods ineffective. The MCO aims to suppress a wearer’s signature across five detection bands—visual, near-infrared, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared, and long-wave infrared—enabling Marines to evade detection by drones at significant distances. The Corps plans to acquire 13,000 cloaks by 2027 and 61,000 by 2030, enough to outfit nearly every deployable Marine. The cloak must meet stringent performance criteria, including preventing visual detection from aerial platforms at 1,000 meters and mid-wave infrared detection at 5,000 meters, while remaining lightweight (preferably under two pounds) and practical for rapid donning over