The object of the study is the historical process of the creation and evolution of camouflage clothing. The subject of the study is the interaction in the dynamics of two key factors in the evolution of camouflage: the original bionic principle and the influence of technological progress. The aim of the research is to analyze how, at different historical stages, the basic natural idea of camouflage transformed under the influence of technological innovations and changing conditions of warfare. It is taken into account that at the early stage of military art development, the coloration of military uniforms, along with other elements of equipment, was used to visually distinguish one's troops from the enemy's forces, while the issue of camouflage was not relevant. With the advancement of technology, increasing range, accuracy, and rate of fire of weapons, clothing gradually lost its identification function and acquired a camouflage function. The source base of the research consists of scientific-historical and organizational-technical documents available in the public domain. The methods used in the article are analysis and synthesis. It is accepted as a limitation that the study is conducted in the field of tactical camouflage without addressing issues of disinformation and other methods of misleading the enemy. Initially, solid khaki coloring was used for camouflage. As methods of camouflage developed, the function of ensuring concealment began to imply two components: imitation and distortion, leading to the principle of camouflage painting. With the appearance of military equipment on the battlefield, it also had to be camouflaged; camouflage became an integral part of one of the forms of ensuring combat operations—engineering. Another practical application of camouflage is the reduction of optical detectability of objects in the air and at sea. The article discusses the history of the development of methods to enhance the concealment of personnel, weapons, and objects through the use of camouflage paint on uniforms, equipment, and military vehicles. Other aspects of the application of methods for enhancing concealment in optical and other ranges are briefly addressed, along with their development in modern history, and prospects for the development of camouflage are formulated, including the use of nature-like technologies. For the first time, a hypothesis is formulated that the long-used principles of optical camouflage may be extended to camouflage in other physical ranges.
Tikhanychev et al. (Sun,) studied this question.