Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan will be issued the new “MultiCam” fire-resistant Army Combat Uniform complete with new Mountain Combat Boots and MultiCam-patterned Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment, or MOLLE, gear beginning in July.

At mobilization sites throughout the U.S., the uniform will be issued to deploying troops as part of the Rapid Fielding Initiative process, and Soldiers already in Afghanistan are scheduled to receive the MultiCam this fall.

The MultiCam uniform, while cut in the same style as the ACU, will have several upgrades including a reinforced seat, buttons on the trouser cargo pockets, be constructed of flame-resistant fabric (like the newer ACUs), and treated with permethrin. 

The decision to field and develop an alternative camouflage for uniforms in Afghanistan came out of the realization that the Army’s current Universal Camouflage Pattern, or UCP, did not meet all of the concealment needs for Afghanistan’s multiple regions.

New Mountain Combat Boots will also be issued to deploying Soldiers, which feature a tougher, more durable sole for gripping the rugged Afghan terrain.

In Afghanistan, Soldiers on a single patrol can potentially go from desert conditions, to wooded areas, villages, and rocky mountain environments. When coming up with a new camouflage color palette, PEO Soldier wanted to be sure the uniforms gave Soldiers a combat edge in each possible terrain situation.

Similar to the Battle Dress Uniform woodland print, the new MultiCam is a combination of seven different shades which “takes in surrounding colors.” A jumble of greens, browns and beige, the MultiCam camouflage presents a solution to Afghanistan’s multiple-region problem.

Beginning in September 2009, four phases of developing and testing new camouflage options were initiated: deciding on alternative uniform patterns, conducting testing and Soldier feedback, choosing a final pattern to produce, and evaluating a long-term plan for the Army Combat Uniform.

First, a unit field-tested the ACU in MultiCam alongside their standard-issue ACUs, while another tested the UCP-Delta, a digital pattern with the added color ‘coyote brown’ for better concealment. When polled, the MultiCam and the UCP-D ended up as the top two choices by Soldiers.

Then, a team representing the U.S. Army Infantry Center, PEO Soldier, Natick Labs, the Asymmetric Warfare Group, Army Special Operations Command, and the U.S. Naval Research Center traveled throughout Afghanistan to gather data on six different patterns including the UCP, UCP-D and MultiCam. They took photos of Soldiers in the six different uniforms against eight terrain conditions. From those pictures, photo simulation was created comparing the uniforms at different distances and settings.

About 750 Soldiers who had recently deployed to Afghanistan were then asked to judge the uniforms in the photos based on their detectability, blend-ability, and rank them from best to worst-the MultiCam was chosen as the best performer in all categories.

So far, three of the four phases of exploring camouflage alternatives have been completed, while the process of making a long-term decision about the ACU, and how big a role the MultiCam camouflage will play is still up for debate.

Jacket
The hooded jacket is a simple affair manufactured from an unspecified 2-layer waterproof breathable fabric and features pit zips as well two exterior and one interior pockets. The integrated hood has a visor and pull tabs to keep foul weather out.

Tent
The detachable hooped tent uses two metal rods and covers the head and upper torso. The tent can also be used as a pack cover.

Sleeping Bag
The sleeping bag component is actually of elephant foot design and mates to the jacket via a #5 coil zipper along the rear of the mouth. Additionally, there is an angle two way zipper to facilitate entry and exit. It also allows you to fully expose the feet in order to walk around. While the bags looks to be roomy, there is also elastic at the mouth in order to keep it snug if needed and built in suspenders help support the weight. The bottom of the bag is waterproof and the top is made from an unspecified waterproof breathable fabric.

Jakpak is currently available in subdued two-tone Green shades, Black and Grey, as well as RealTree and a HiViz option for survival use. The mosquito net is Black but looks a dark Grey due to the mesh letting light through. Additionally, since it is based primarily on a jacket, Jakpak is sized XS (34-36) - XL (46-48).

For more info visit www.jakpak.com.

Although its not military camouflage, the latest variation of the Optifade Concealment camo from Gore is still interesting.  Its called “Big Game-Forest” and is designed primarily for hunting from tree stands.

The jacket shown above from Sitka is called the “Incinerator” and is due out this summer.

Thanks to Hardcore Outdoor for this sneak peak.

With the Berry Amendment, the US remains one of the only countries with legislation designed to maintain a domestic textile base to support defense requirements.

UPDATE: Word from Australia is that as of close of business Defence had capitulated and that no material will be produced overseas.

The American search for, and British selection of, a new camouflage uniform for Afghanistan has been getting lots of attention – but quite a few other countries have been also changing / upgrading their camouflage uniforms in the 21st Century. 

The first big new development was when the Canadians introduced the world to the CADPAT pixelated camouflage pattern, and in effect re-wrote the rule book of camouflage pattern design.  Then the US Marine Corps adopted a completely new style of Combat and Utility Uniform that started an irreversible fashion trend – especially once the US Army adopted a broadly similar style in the ACU, which was then copied around the rest of the world as well. 

Interestingly, although Crye Precision really stirred things up with their radically re-styled combat clothing designs and multi-terrain “MultiCam” camouflage pattern, they’ve not had the wide-ranging impact on the uniform designs of the rest of the world that CADPAT / MARPAT and the MCCUU have had.

Other big influences on the introduction of new camo uniforms have been the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.  As a result, there have been a whole lot of new desert camouflage patterns put in to service by European countries that don’t have any deserts on their home turf.

Worthy of a special note are the Russians.  Their military and para-military forces have been seen wearing a very wide range of new uniforms and camouflage patterns in recent years – this has led a lot of people to debate about what is “authentic issue” and what’s simply commercial.  The answer is that there is not such a clear line between the two – especially for special operations units, who can augment their “official issue” kit and clothing with privately (or unit purchased) items; particularly camouflage uniforms better suited to the types of operations they perform and the terrain where they operate.

What’s also especially interesting about the new Russian camo patterns is that several of them are based on revamped versions of WWII camouflage patterns – and in the case of the reversible “Chimera” uniform, even of the Waffen SS!  The German retailer W&T Tactical Assault Gear have a particularly interesting and useful page on their site that shows the very wide range of camouflage patterns available on the commercial Russian market: click here.

Looking at all the developments around the world there are some other interesting points to note as well though:   

First of all, the sheer scale of activity in this field over the past few years is quite interesting.  I’ve been a student of camouflage combat uniforms for probably something like 30 years now, and have never seen so much activity or as many new developments as have been happening in the last few years. 

But its not just about “pretty new uniforms”, what’s really cool is how the individual soldier is now more and more being rightfully treated as an integrated, multi-purpose, system and is being given a full range of modernised, focussed, mission-adaptable kit accordingly.  Its nice to see the “cannon fodder” and “bullet catcher” days of the “poor bloody infantry” being consigned to the pages of history at last. 

Secondly, “digital” has clearly become a global craze – and whilst there are many patterns that are simply re-coloured copies of CADPAT, there are also quite a few that are more interesting and innovative. And some which don’t even merit the term.  In the cases of Kazahkstan and Lebanon, they’ve already adopted patterns that are very similar to the US Army’s UCP-Delta pattern now being tested in Afghanistan.

Thirdly, its interesting to note that only the Latvian Army has followed the US Army’s lead and adopted a single “universal” camouflage pattern – but the Saab-Barracuda designed Latvian “Legoflage” is probably a more effective pattern than UCP.  In every other case, countries have chosen the more traditional route of different colourations for different environments.

On the other hand, the French have completely updated the style and features of their combat uniform – but retained the standard CCE camouflage pattern.

Finally, I’ve only included uniforms that are actually being produced and used, even if just in field trials, by military forces.  I’ve not included any that are purely commercial ventures, or that only exist as a design or computer simulation.  I also realise that this article will out-of-date 5 minutes after I publish it, so I’ll be coming back from time to time to keep it up-to-date.

Right, with all that in mind, let’s hit the road for the Strike-Hold! Camouflage World Tour…

AFGHANISTAN 

 AUSTRIA (trial patterns)

BOSNIA

BULGARIA

Air Force

CHINA

COLUMBIA

CROATIA

CZECH REPUBLIC

ECUADOR 

ESTONIA

FINLAND

FRANCE

FELIN Trials Uniform

New Combat Uniform

Mountain Troops Snow Camo

GERMANY

GREECE

JORDAN

Army / Air Force (left), Royal Guards (right)

Civil Defence

Customs

Public Security Directorate

Navy (left), Special Forces (right)

IRAN

IRAQ

Police

Army

Special Forces

ITALY

Army

Naval Special Forces

San Marco Brigade

Mountain Troops

GOI (Gruppo Operativo Incursori)

KAZAHKSTAN

KOREA (South)

LATVIA

LEBANON

Airborne forces

SEALs

MACEDONIA

MEXICO

Army

Navy / Marines

Police

NETHERLANDS

trial patterns

PERU

PHILLIPINES

Army

Marines

Navy

National Police Special Action Force

POLAND

Special Forces

PORTUGAL

RUSSIA

Army

Border Guards

Special Operations Forces

Airborne forces

GRU – VDV 45th Detached Recon Regiment (thanks to Johannes for these photos)

FSB Alpha Group

SERBIA

SINGAPORE

SLOVAKIA

SLOVENIA

SPAIN

trial patterns

SWITZERLAND

THAILAND

TURKEY

UKRAINE

Special Forces

Airborne Forces

____________________________________________________________________________

 A special thanks to the members of MilitaryPhotos.net and the International Camouflage Uniform Society – too many to remember and mention by name – for providing such a rich source of up-to-date information.  And a very special note of thanks to Brad Turner and his excellent site Kamouflage.net – its well worth a visit.

Features:

• One set for Shirt and Pant
• Brand NEW
• anti Static-electricity treatment on clothes surface
• Fast Dry Material
• This BDU is a unique material and design.
• JGSDF uniform is extremely difficult to get, especially a new one. We got a few set.

Shirt:

• Two Chest Pockets with Velcro closure.
• Left upper sleeves with 3 pen-holder pocket
• Shoulder loop for rank patch / holding beret
• camo tree branches loop ( 4 on each side ) on back of the uniform ( unique in Japanese Camo uniform )
• Button Closure

Pants:

• Comes with a Camo Belt with Metal Belt Buckle
• Front Pockets
• Right Rear Pocket
• Cargo Pocket

Material :

• Polyester 65% Cotton 35%"

Shirt:

• Upper and Lower Front Pocket
• Button Closure
• Button Adjustable Waist on Back

• Front Pockets
• Exposed-Button Cargo Pocket

Material :

• Polyester 65% Cotton 35%"

Crye Precision 2010 Catalog

Please do not contact Crye over and over asking when these products will be available. The more you harass them, the more you gum up the works. They are all expected to hit the market at various points over the course of this year. Special thanks to Ash from MightyTactical.com for getting this together.

From official MoD information:

UK Armed Forces will be issued with combat clothing in a new camouflage optimised for operations in Afghanistan and across a wide range of environments. It will be issued to all personnel deploying on Op HERRICK from March 2010 then issued more widely to the UK Armed Forces from 2011. NATO nations have been informed of the changes to ensure they can identify UK personnel.

REASON FOR CHANGE
Personnel in Afghanistan are operating across a wide range of environments – desert, woodland/jungle, compounds, crops, grassland and arid stone – frequently transiting from one environment to another throughout their patrols. They often move through several environments in the course of one operation. Existing camouflages are optimised for single environments. An Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) was authorised in Apr 09 and a programme of research has taken place to compare in-service camouflages with newly developed patterns and Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) products. This new approach will provide the flexibility to meet differing requirements which environmental specific camouflages do not.

The existing camouflages were designed to be optimised for single environments. The woodland was optimised for NW Europe as this is where we expected to do most of our fighting when it was first designed. Likewise the Desert camouflage was designed in response to a UOR for operations in Kuwait and Iraq. These camouflages are still the best in those specific environments, but do not perform as effectively when a soldier moves from one environment to another.

DEVELOPMENT
The trials consisted of Defence Clothing Team and Dstl generated camouflages compared with in-service and commercially available camouflages. The trials included visual comparisons, objective assessments of the time-to-detect the different camouflages against different backgrounds, and subjective user opinions on the efficacy of the performance.

A variety of camouflages were compared. These included camouflages developed in house, and both in-service and commercially produced camouflages. Initial trials were conducted in Kenya, UK, Afghanistan and Cyprus to eliminate any obvious non-starters. Scientific assessment then took place measuring the performance of the various patterns across 10 different backgrounds. This included both objective and subjective testing. During the course of these assessments, 240 soldiers were consulted for their views. The clear winner was a commercial product, Crye Precision’s Multicam®. Crye’s Multicam pattern was found to be the best performing across the widest range of environments by a significant margin and was selected as the basis of the new UK Multi-Terrain pattern (MTP) camouflage.

MTP was developed by Crye Precision to combine the characteristics of the UK DPM pattern, whilst providing the same performance levels as Multicam. Therefore, MTP exploits a successful and recognised commercial product and is, as the name implies, a multi-terrain pattern that performs well across a wide range of environments. It is particularly effective in boundary areas such as tree-lines and areas of mixed vegetation. It is also effective in a variety of crops, urban and arid environments.

Crye Multicam

UK MTP

DELIVERY PLAN
Operations. Personnel deploying to Afghanistan from Mar/Apr 2010 will receive most of their clothing and equipment in MTP in place of Desert DPM. There will be no change to the issue process. For much of 2010 and 2011 there will be some camouflage items on operations still in original desert colours because industrial lead times mean not all items can be provided to theatre at once. This also means that units returning from operations will revert to wearing current Woodland DPM uniform until MTP is fielded across the Front Line Commands.

Front Line Commands. MTP clothing will roll out across UK forces over 3 years in accordance with FLC Fielding Plans from Apr 11. The roll-out of MTP clothing (Fd Jkts, Shirts, Rank Slides and Trousers) will coincide with a change in clothing cut to provide coherence with new ballistic protection systems. Clothing will be task issued to whole units at once to avoid mixed dress. In addition, helmet and body armour covers and camouflage load carriage items will be replaced from early 2012 as part of the Personal Equipment and Common Operational Clothing (PECOC) Project, which will deliver an integrated personal equipment and clothing system designed to meet operational performance standards. Other camouflage items (such as waterproofs and CBRN suits) will be issued to new recruits and as a result of fair wear and tear only.

Interim Policy on Wear and Training in the UK. Until the roll out of MTP clothing from 2011, MTP clothing will only be issued to, and worn by, personnel deploying on Op HERRICK. It should not be worn in UK and other non-operational locations unless undergoing pre-deployment training and key demonstration events. MTP clothing will not be supported once units have returned from operations.

The main MTP clothing items will be task issued to complete units at a time over a 3-year fielding plan in order to avoid mixed dress within units. To manage stocks most effectively, some items will be superseded over a number of years and during the period of transition these items will be in use in both Woodland and MTP camouflage. As stocks of non-PECOC items (e.g. waterproofs and CBRN suits) in Woodland DPM are run down, they will be replaced by MTP versions. These will be issued to recruits as required and to others to replace fair wear and tear only.