Merkava 4 with Fibrotex camouflage system

Photographs of a Merkava 4 main battle tank (MBT) fitted with a new camouflage system have been uploaded to the internet. Apparently this system is designed to reduce the tank's thermal, near-IR, and UV signature; it will also absorb a major part of the solar energy without transfering most of the heat onto the tank. This results in a lower interior temperature and thus greater crew comfort.

The thermal camouflage system is made by the Israeli company Fibrotex. It covers most of the roof area, the gun barrel and the sides of the hull except for a distinctive cut-out section for the engine exhaust vents. The thermal cover appears to have an outer layer made of some cloth-like material which is painted in some form of camouflage pattern in sand color and light brown tones. Thin straps cover the lower hull section at the sides and rear, which are apparently made out of a different material with a rubber-like texture. This material is probably elastic in order to not restrict the tank's mobility - it might in theory even be rubber.

Unlike competiting systems such as the Barracuda MCS from SAAB or the Solar Shield system from Rheinmetall, the surface of Fibrotex' material is rather smooth. In certain regions at least this might have a negative impact on the optical camouflaging characteristics of Fibrotex' camouflage design compared to the other system. The coverage of the tank also appears to be rather low, which specifically in combination with the camouflage pattern makes the current implementation of the thermal camouflage system on the Merkava 4 somewhat poor at actually hiding the tank. It has to be noted that the current Merkava tank versions as used by the IDF usually do not have any camouflage pattern at all. However the website of Fibrotex also includes photographs of another prototype implementation on an upgraded Merkava 3. This appears to have slightly better coverage (but still far from perfect) and a different camouflage pattern with more  contrast.

Interestingly Fibrotex also offers a thermal camouflage system for the Leopard 2A4, which includes rather thick add-on elements. These appear to be designed to reduce the tank's radar signature, development on this topic was popular in NATO during the mid-1980s. This resulted in a number of stealth demonstrators based on existing tanks such as the AMX-30, Leopard 1 and Chieftain MBT.

Russia lying about Armata capabilites?

According to Jane's, the manufacturer of the new T-14 Armata main battle tank, made some very dubios claims about the T-14 Armata.

Vyacheslav Khalitov, the director of the tank manufacturer UralVagonZavod (UVZ), claimed that the T-14 Armata has stealth features like modern aircraft and cannot be detected by radar.

As written by Jane's "... US specialists with many years of experience in the design of current-generation armour and Russian experts on former Soviet programmes that were designed to reduce AFV signatures both expressed doubts."

What to think about this? A radar absorbing stealth tank? Am I the only one who would not see any use of this?
Radars might be used by long range reconnaisance to spot tanks, but on the tactical situation - i.e. on the battlefield - nobody will use radars for detecting tanks... tanks do not have radars, IFVs do not have radars, APCs do not have radars, the infantry doesn't carry radars - hell, even scout vehicles are not equipped with radars. There are ground surveillance systems with high sensitivity thermal detectors, which can spot tanks from 20 or more miles away. So why would they make the tank out of radar absorbing materials?

US Army adopts Barracuda

The US Army decided to adopt the Mobile Camouflage System (MCS) Barracuda from the Swedish company SAAB.

Defence and security company Saab has received an order for the production and delivery of camouflage equipment from the US Army. Deliveries will occur over the next six months.
Saab has global leadership in the design and manufacture of advanced camouflage solutions for the defence market and continues to attract new and existing customers around the globe. For decades in the US, Saab has been the leading supplier to the US Army within this product area.
“We are proud to be able to continue to deliver state-of-the-art solutions to the US Army. This order further proves Saab’s unrivalled position as the world-leader within signature management technology. It is also an important step forward towards sustaining a critical U.S. signature management industrial base,” says Brian Keller, President of Saab Barracuda LLC.
Saab’s advanced camouflage technology products have until now been exported to more than 50 countries. Saab offers a unique package of camouflage systems and force protection solutions with the purpose to decrease the enemy’s ability to detect and engage. These solutions protect camps, vehicles and personnel against hostile sensors and enemy target acquisition.

Source: http://news.cision.com/saab/r/saab-receives-us-army-order-for-camouflage-solutions,c9790487

M1A2 Abrams with Barracuda MCS

Apparently the US Army plans to outfit their M1A2 Abrams main battle tank with the Barracuda MCS, at least several photographs can be found online. These should not be confused with earlier photographs of Australian M1A1 Abrams tanks, on which the MCS was trialed.

Recently (in Novembre 2014) Germany already adopted Barracuda MCS on their Leopard 2A7 main battle tank, after other NATO countries like Denmark and Canada having used Barracuda MCS on their Leopard 2 tanks in Afghanistan. The first user of Barracuda MCS on a main battle tank was however Sweden.

Swedish Strv 121 with Barracuda MCS