 Camouflage has been used to protect military equipment such as vehicles , guns , ships , aircraft and buildings as well as individual soldiers and their positions . Vehicle camouflage techniques begin with paint , which offers at best only limited effectiveness . Other methods for stationary land vehicles include covering with improvised materials such as blankets and vegetation , and erecting nets , screens and soft covers which may suitably reflect , scatter or absorb near infrared and radar waves . Some military textiles and vehicle camouflage paints also reflect infrared to help provide concealment from night vision devices . After the Second World War , radar made camouflage generally less effective , though coastal boats are sometimes painted like land vehicles . Aircraft camouflage too came to be seen as less important because of radar , and aircraft of different air forces , such as the Royal Air Force 's Lightning , were often uncamouflaged . 
