If reports are to be believed, the Ministry of Defence in conjunction with QinetiQ (lots of MOD contracts), and the British Army, are testing technology that can make tanks and troops invisible. Apparently it works by using “cameras and projectors to beam images captured from the surrounding landscape onto a specially-adapted tank coated with silicon to maximize their reflective qualities”. Now that sounds familiar, wasn’t that exactly how the invisible car worked in Pierce Brosnan’s last James Bond film – Die Another Day?

I gasped with despair in the cinema when that scene showed – thinking that they had surely gone too far into fantasy world this time.

The question is, do you think QinetiQ got the idea from Die Another Day? Just kidding of course. Mind you, it’s not the first time that James Bond films have been ahead of the game when it comes to technology. The underwater camera in Thunderball (1965) and the digital watch in Live and Let Die (1973) are just two examples of gadgets that were shown in James Bond films before they became widely available to the public.

Come to think of it, Q Branch, QinetiQ. Could there be a connection?

Engadget – British Army looks to make tanks, troops invisible