Armor Markings

[Loose Deuce]

Hey Guys I thought this may be the best place to ask, What are those V shaped markings on the sides of Tanks and other vehicles ? I only starded noticing it during the first Gulf War and I always wondered about what it ment ? Its some kind of chevron markings that may be pointed in any direction.

I dont remember seeing anything like that in the early 70's or I have forgoten.

 

[Opie]

Isn't it like the black and white alternating "invasion stripes" painted on the wings of allied aircraft prior to the Normandy invasion for quick identification of friendly aircraft?

 

[Jones]

If pointed in different directions; they are platoon identifiers. ^ is 1st or scout platoon, > is 2nd or mortar platoon, V is 3rd, < is 4th, vees one over the other with points facing away is 5th, <> is 6th. AR 746-2 covers their use and application, used primarily on armor.
Inverted vee with no numbers means "friendly forces, don't shoot at 'em". 'Course that worked about as long as it took the Iraqis to take notice. Now everybody's sporting the inverted "V". Next came, "Hey everybody, one IR strobe flash on the count of three"... That wasn't always 100% fool-proof either.
Also used are aluminum plates that give a distinctive IR signature when viewed through night vision gear.

 

[emmado22]

They are platoon identifiers.. However, they originally started out as IR reflective material so that when you viewed then under IR illunination with tNVG's, they reflected back at you. Problem was that there werent enough of them to go arround, so soldiers just used black paint for visual recognition. I sell these and other IR reflective items to the GOVT all day long.

Jones, The aluminum plates you speak of are actualy coated with a Thermal Reflective tape that shows a cold spot when viewed under thermals, they dont do anything when viewed under NVG's....

 

[Jones]

You're right.
I think I just lump all night vision gear together for conversation's sake. Most of the later equipment, FLIR and PTIS, is going the thermal imaging direction; while a lot of stuff in the field, especially hand-held, is still passive light amplification. The passive light amp gear does have a limited reach into the IR spectrum, otherwise the IR light source for map reading wouldn't work.

 

[rmgill]

Actually, the markings he's talking about are the big ones on the sides of all coalition vehicles that are all oriented the same way. Israel uses a similar method for their vehicles. OIF saw a different method with the IR Reflective recognition panels that looked like a vent you'd see on a gable of a house or barn.

 

[Jones]

The inverted vee is standard but I think I read in his post the the chevrons pointed all directions; that's why I thought platoon markings.