![]() Previous proposals, however, have not fared so well.Īround late March and early May of last year, a number of sources began reporting on the Australian Army’s field testing of a new ‘mid-point’ camouflage uniform, designed to “ better meet the range of environments deployed troops are encountering”. It is also unclear how widely uniforms in the new pattern will be distributed, and whether they will be issued for use in Australian terrain. At this stage it is unclear whether AMP will feature the current MultiCam palette in a distinctly Australian pattern, in a similar approach to the UK’s MTP, or will also feature a colour range modified for Australian terrain. The Australian pattern will be known as ‘ Australian MultiCam Pattern’ (AMP). Additionally, Defence will be licensing the rights to manufacture uniforms in the existing pattern, for a sum of US$4.7 million. The new Australian pattern will be developed for the ADF by Crye at a cost of US$3.1 million. The pattern itself, properly called Multi-Terrain Pattern, features the familiar MultiCam colour palette in a design featuring brush-like strokes reminiscent of its predecessor, British Disruptive Pattern Material ( DPM). As one Crye representative said: “MultiCam won all their trials so they wanted us to develop a pattern for them that performed like MultiCam but had a distinctly British identity. Crye was then asked to develop an exclusive pattern for the UK MoD. MultiCam, already in use by UK special operations forces, was the stand out of the test group. The assigned team conducted a wide range of tests, used computer modelling, developed several experimental techniques and tested the pattern in the UK, Cyprus, Kenya and Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) investigated the effectiveness of ten different camouflage patterns under the PECOC (Personal Equipment Common Operating Clothing) program. The UK has also adopted a variation of MultiCam. The pattern is also in use with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Response Teams and a number of other US law enforcement agencies, some units of the British military (whilst awaiting the roll-out of their very own licensed Crye pattern, MTP) and the Australian Federal Police. Private contractors I have spoken to and worked with have also recognised the utility of MultiCam in Afghanistan, despite the tendency to avoid camouflage patterns. ![]() Blackwater tested MultiCam with some of its teams early on and featured the pattern in its ‘Pro Shop’ also ( leftover product). Some of the first ‘real world’ adoptions of the camouflage came from the private sector, however. The US Special Operations Command have been using the pattern for years now, and MultiCam had previously featured in various iterations of the US Army’s futuristic Future Force Warrior/Land Warrior program (cancelled in 2007). The current, US-issue MultiCam pattern is already in service with a number of militaries, law enforcement organisations and private companies. There have, however, been concerns about the final design, colouration and testing of the pattern, and some concerns from local industry and politicians. In late May of this year Chief Executive of the Defence Material Organisation, Dr Stephen Gumley, announced that the DMO had reached “an arrangement with the Crye company for them to design an Australian version of their pattern in the various materials”. ![]() Australian special operations units had been wearing the pattern for some time, and the decision to expand its use to all troops in the theatre was a direct result of the positive feedback received by SOTG members. Last November the Minister for Defence Materiel, Jason Clare, announced that Australian troops operating in Afghanistan would be issued with Crye Precision MultiCam uniforms, following a successful trial. Their names have been withheld at their request. Please note: a number of serving Australian Army officers and soldiers were interviewed for this piece. ![]()
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