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We have determined optimal minimum-conspicuity monocoat paint colors for the CH-47F Chinook helicopter, viewed photopically against forest, desert, and sky backgrounds. Our methodology combines use of a validated spectroradiometric model for rigorous 3D signature prediction with statistics of varying background fields and a CIE color difference metric. The study considered a large subset of the Federal Standard 595 (FS595) paint inventory. Each paint color was rigorously modeled with bidirectional reflectance distribution function scattering properties to match existing army paint and spectral reflectances to match spectrophotometer measurements of FS595 reference samples. We devised and validated a method to impute statistical variation in background radiances over environmental conditions consistent with the aircraft radiometric computations. Using a visual jury, we informally calibrated the CIE 1994 color difference formula (which gauges both luminance and chromaticity contrast) to gauge how each paint performed against each background, for varying range, view direction, and sun location. The statistical dispersions in performance were summarized for the CH-47F Program Manager, who selected the best overall paint for the CH-47F fleet. We found paints that were optimized to a specific background (forest, desert, etc.) yielded enhanced performance against those backgrounds, as would be expected, and that those paints were better than the paint used on CH-47s in the current US inventory. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 34, 406-416, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20538