Army Looking for Infrared Smoke Screens

You only need to have played Spy Hunter once or twice to realize how awesome it is to be able to throw up a smoke screen. But these days, even relatively-unsophisticated bad guys can have thermal viewers and heat-seeking missiles. Which is why the Army is looking for a smoke screen that will hide soldiers in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. "Breakthroughs in vapor phase synthesis and nanotechnology," may be needed to pull off the trick, the Army warns.

• In the history of smoke and obscuration in the US military, there has not been any development of an obscuring material that would work in both the visible and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The military uses separate munitions for each region of the spectrum;
  for the visible region, we use the L8 grenade, AN HC grenade, titanium dioxide hand grenade and the M76 smoke generator, for the infrared region, we use the M76 launched grenade. There are many scenarios where having one type of munition for both the visible and infrared regions is desirable... *

The material should be effective in both the visible and infrared regions, with an extinction coefficient value (a measure of the screening/obscuring performance) equal or greater than that for the current material, which is 5 m2/g...

"Intensive chemistry and material science will be needed to fabricate an effective material," the Army cautions. "Updated technologies and breakthroughs in vapor phase synthesis and nanotechnology may assist in developing a successful material," as well. However, if the project goes as planned, it'll go towards "improved obscuration materials for use in grenades, mortars, and generators," the Army notes. The smoke's use in Bond-esque cars was not mentioned, oddly.