Editing Tank (section)

=====Concealment=====
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Concealment can include hiding the tank among trees or digging in the tank by having a combat bulldozer dig out part of a hill, so that much of the tank will be hidden. A tank commander can conceal the tank by using "hull down" approaches to going over upward-sloping hills, so that she or he can look out the commander's cupola without the distinctive-looking main cannon cresting over the hill. Adopting a turret-down or [[hull-down]] position reduces the visible silhouette of a tank as well as providing the added protection of a position in [[Enfilade and defilade#Defilade|defilade]].

Working against efforts to avoid detection is the fact that a tank is a large metallic object with a distinctive, angular [[silhouette]] that emits copious [[thermal imaging|heat]] and engine noise. A tank that is operating in cold weather or which needs to use its radio or other communications or target-detecting electronics will need to start its engine regularly to maintain its battery power, which will create engine noise. Consequently, it is difficult to effectively camouflage a tank in the absence of some form of cover or concealment (e.g., woods) it can [[hull-down|hide]] its hull behind. The tank becomes easier to detect when moving (typically, whenever it is in use) due to the large, distinctive auditory, vibration and thermal signature of its engine and power plant. Tank tracks and dust clouds also betray past or present tank movement.

Switched-off tanks are vulnerable to infra-red [[thermal imaging|detection]] due to differences between the [[thermal conductivity]] and therefore [[heat#Heat dissipation|heat dissipation]] of the metallic tank and its surroundings. At close range the tank can be detected even when powered down and fully concealed due to the [[heat haze|column of warmer air]] above the tank and the smell of diesel or gasoline. Thermal blankets slow the rate of heat emission and some thermal camouflage nets use a mix of materials with differing thermal properties to operate in the infra-red as well as the [[visible spectrum]].

[[Grenade launcher]]s can rapidly deploy a [[smoke screen]] that is opaque to [[infrared]] light, to hide it from the thermal viewer of another tank. In addition to using its own grenade launchers, a tank commander could call in an artillery unit to provide smoke cover. Some tanks can produce a smoke screen.

Sometimes camouflage and concealment are used at the same time. For example, a camouflage-painted and branch-covered tank (camouflage) may be hidden in a behind a hill or in a dug-in-emplacement (concealment).