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Spotlight on S&T - September 2004

New clothes for the Coyote…

Camouflage kit installed
on the Coyote

Scientists at Defence R&D Canada are working hard on making the Coyote a new coat! The Coyote is a highly mobile well-armed, reconnaissance vehicle that is part of the Light Armoured Vehicle (LAV) family and is used in battlefield reconnaissance and surveillance missions. With the help of DRDC Valcartier scientists and an industry partner, GMA Cover Corp., the Coyote may be getting some new threads.

The research team designed and developed a "signature"-reducing kit called KARES (Kit Amélioré de Réduction de la Signature). Signatures - such as heat - are signals emitted by each vehicle, Coyotes and others, which can be detected by enemy forces and used to track them. KARES is designed to hide the vehicle from modern sensors and ultimately increase the survival chances of the Coyote in the battlefield.

Camouflage kit installed on
the Coyote with an addition
on the silencer.

The Coyote operates in the world's hot spots providing observation capabilities in all types of weather conditions both at night and during the day. It is designed to detect hostile forces by using a combination of cameras, radar, thermal imaging and laser range-finding equipment. The system is currently in use with the Army's six mechanized infantry battalions, its three armour regiments and their respective schools.

KARES has three distinct kits: the permanent camouflage, the short halt and the long halt kits. The permanent camouflage kit consists of a series of panels made of extremely resistant camouflage material for the chassis and gun turret along with a series of metallic structures covered with camouflage material and, as required, heat insulation that wraps the silencer and the sides of the vehicle in an effort to reduce the distinctive signature of those places (Figures 1 and 2). The short halt kit consists of pieces of camouflage that are laid out on the front end of the vehicle during short halts. Finally, the long halt kit consists of one big camouflage net covering a shelter set up immediately behind the vehicle during long observation periods (Figure 3).

Camouflage kit installed on
the Coyote with short halt kit
at the front and the long halt
kit at the back.

KARES was deployed this spring in Belgium during a NATO trial to demonstrate Canada's land equipment signature management capability.

In July, further research was conducted on KARES in realistic deployment conditions at CFB Valcartier. The next step of the project will be to reinforce the metallic structures on the sides of the vehicle and make them retractable to reduce the risk of damage in difficult environments as the Coyote can travel up to 100 km/hr across a variety of terrain.

Research is also underway to design and develop versions of KARES for arid and desert regions so that the Coyote can have a new coat for every season.