Mimetic Armor

Description
Prototyped by ComStar, Mimetic Armor was put into full production by the Word of Blake in 3061 for use in the Purifier battle armor. Using the Chameleon Light Polarization Shield as a starting point, ComStar and Blakist technicians created a system that used several embedded cameras to identify the colors in the environment and then shift the armor's color to match. Using this armor allowed the Purifier to slip into the background like a chameleon or octopus, making targeting more difficult.

The computers used to perform the color matching need some time to process the data, so the system is most effective when the unit is standing still or moving very slowly. The faster the unit moves, the less effective the mimetic effect becomes. Another drawback is the space required to mount all the cameras and computers, which can reduce the amount of equipment a suit of battle armor can carry by as much as half. To overcome this limitation, battle armor equipped with Mimetic Armor often uses one or more Modular Weapon Mounts.

Another weakness of Mimetic Armor is its limitation to battle armor sized units. The Word of Blake later created a BattleMech sized version of Mimetic Armor: the Void Signature System.