China has developed camouflage paint for drones

The Chinese manufacturer Star-Navi has developed and launched the XRAM-C Series, a specialized line of aerosol coatings designed to camouflage unmanned aerial vehicles from air defense systems by absorbing radio waves. 

This was reported by the military analysis publication Defence Blog.

According to the developers, conventional metal components of UAV hulls are ideal targets for radar stations because they fully reflect radio signals. The new technological coating works on the principle of energy conversion: the paint does not reflect the signal back to the radar, but absorbs it and transforms it into thermal energy, making the object virtually invisible to detection systems. Company representatives claim that a protective layer just 0.5 mm thick can reduce the power of the reflected radar signal by half (by 3–3.5 dB). At the same time, one square meter of this coating weighs just over 1 kg, which minimizes the impact on the drone’s total takeoff weight and aerodynamic characteristics.

The paint application process is as simple as possible and does not require high-tech factory equipment or specialized tools. The protective layer demonstrates high operational durability: it withstands temperatures up to 250°C, is resistant to strong vibration loads during flight, and has successfully passed rigorous, prolonged testing lasting 2,000 hours in an environment with aggressive sea salt.

The manufacturer has developed three different coating variants to effectively counter various types of radar stations:

• C105 — designed to suppress radar signals operating in the centimeter-wave X and Ku bands.

• C112 — optimized for protection against S- and C-band radar detection systems.

• C113B — a universal multi-band version designed to simultaneously block all major air defense operating frequencies.

For ease of transport and widespread use at production sites, the liquid composite is supplied to the market in standard containers—buckets with capacities of 1, 5, and 10 kilograms.