Saab's New Poncho Gives Soldiers Multispectral Cover
The proliferation of drone-based surveillance on the modern battlefield has pushed individual soldier concealment to the forefront of defense priorities, and Saab is responding with a dedicated wearable camouflage system. The Swedish company has unveiled the Barracuda Poncho, a multispectral concealment garment designed to hide dismounted soldiers from thermal and, in its arctic configuration, UV sensors across a range of operational environments.
The Barracuda Poncho joins Saab's existing Barracuda family of camouflage solutions, which spans vehicle, platform, and individual soldier applications. According to Saab, the new poncho builds on feedback from its Barracuda Soldier System and shifts emphasis toward wearability, addressing scenarios where a soldier must move away from a concealed position or vehicle without compromising mission security.
The garment is reversible, with each side configured for a specific light condition: one for daytime use and one for nighttime, the latter featuring enhanced thermal protection. Saab says the poncho covers woodland, stony desert, and arctic environments, with the arctic variant adding UV sensor protection beyond the standard visual and thermal coverage. Total weight is listed at just over 1 kg (about 2.2 pounds), a design priority intended to preserve freedom of movement and allow rapid deployment in the field.
Do you think this is an acceptable weight penalty for individual soldiers already carrying substantial kit?
"Barracuda Poncho is our answer to the recent rise in UAV-based surveillance on the battlefield, where a mission can be compromised if the soldier even briefly leaves a camouflaged vehicle or position. Building on the positive response from our Soldier System, the new Barracuda Poncho solution provides an alternative camouflage solution, focusing on wearability while retaining the exceptional multispectral protection," said Henning Robach, head of Saab's Barracuda business unit.
Saab Barracuda Poncho at a glance:
Specification | Detail |
Weight | Just over 1 kg |
Design | Reversible (day/night configuration) |
Protection types | Visual, thermal (all variants); UV (arctic variant) |
Environments | Woodland, stony desert, arctic |
Manufacturer | Saab (Barracuda business unit) |
For those planning to go, the Barracuda Poncho is scheduled to be on display at Eurosatory 2026, at Saab's stand G180 in Hall 6.
With drone surveillance now a near-constant threat on the modern battlefield, do you think wearable multispectral camouflage will become standard issue for infantry, or remain a specialized tool for SOF units?
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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I'll take two, please.
Depends on the scenario.
The game of cat and mouse continues to evolve.
Gary Paul Johnston
I don't get the arctic variant. Dark squares on white? Who couldn't see them? Why not slim tree limbs? Barracuda? Give this one back to the fish!
That digital crap stands out like a sore thumb
No help against Ukrainian FPV drones.
Nothing more awkward to wear moving as a infantry man or being a crew member of a vehicle than a blasted poncho. I can just imagine the joy of this in a desert environment when one has body armor on and any activity drains you quickly of fluids. We were drinking tons of water to prevent being a heat casualty in Iraq, this poncho added to layers of body armor and gear will be miserable . Someone will say ...don't move and stay hidden and yeah, that works fine to deter drones but you're still going to be baking under that poncho or freezing to death under it. There is one alternative, don't wear a poncho and get whacked by a drone.
I can see the USMC picking this up before the regular army. Their new emphasis is on small unit tactics ashore with support from small helicopter or vertical lift jet carriers carrying a reinforced battalion landing team with air support. As a small mobile unit a drone resistant poncho would be an easy trade-off. Yeah, it is a little more (undefined) more than 2.2 pounds, but the field trooper is already carrying a poncho so the additional weight will be slightly offset by dropping the standard issue poncho. It might even be better at keeping one dry. SOF probably have 1,000 in different modes already on order.
What about IR signature? I remember when the US desert camo suddenly needed a different overgarment for after sundown. AFAIK, night vision still skews towards the IR part of the spectrum. Sure hope that "visual" includes the IR frequencies that NV excels in imaging.