A lot of people look at the US Military’s camo wars and ask themselves, “Why not just adopt MARPAT?” That’s a fair question, especially when you take it one step further and ask, “Why bother with camouflaged PPE when using Coyote is good enough?”
HyperStealth’s Guy Cramer takes a look at the history and data available to explain why MARPAT isn’t the best answer. This is well worth the read.
This camo contest is giving me a headache. When will it end?
The contest winner is being announced on June 14th, the Army’s birthday.
i’ve always thought that using solid coyote PPE was a huge mistake. why cover up a very effective camo pattern with a solid color that silhouettes the torso (esp when used with desert MARPAT)? iirc, cost was the issue, but you still end up buying the same number of PPE items.
a better solution would have been to use a hybrid type pattern for PPE that incorporated the primary elements of both the woodland and desert patterns or keep the solid coyote armor cover but use pouches that match the uniform.
That is what the Army asked for in their Phase IV pattern families. One OCIE/PPE pattern where the geometry matches the three other environmental patterns and one color scheme – which is a compromise across all three environments.
Are you saying that each of the finalist families have a forth, unique PPE colorway? I thought ADS/yours was the only one that had that.
Crye has not disclosed their pattern submissions. So I don’t know what they’ve done.
I’ll take that to mean that Kryptek and Brookewood do not have a separate PPE pattern?
Actually, Kryptek does have OCIE/PPE pattern.
The transitional pattern (Highlander) will be used for OCIE/PPE if Kryptek is selected. ‘Tier One’ units will have an option of using matching PPE (Nomad or Mandrake) if so desired. The material for making OCIE/PPE in all of the Kryptek patterns is available now.
Coyote blends/matches both the effective Woodland and Desert MARPAT – got it. OCIE, at least the armor carrier with MOLLE, is expensive to make – got it. Why did the Marine Corps not make the individual pouches in both Woodland and Desert and issue them in accordance with the environmental need to affix to the Coyote armor carrier “base”? Yeah, it would cost a bit more, but it would also solve about 80% of the problem regarding silouetting the torso and the cost/effort of going through this whole Phase IV effort.
Informative article. It will make some heads swim because of its technicality. I like the level of detail because I want to see if my interpretation of results is the same as the authors. A summary might be helpful in reaching more people.
One observation though is that this article is written from a perspective of what we know and have available today. Back up the question of what camo we should have been using five or ten years ago and it’s clear MARPAT was the answer (yep, UCP is better through NVGs but the huge advantage in visible spectrum makes up for the light UCP advantage).
I found Cramer’s highlighting of USMC resistance to AOR1’s use by the whole Navy an echo of the prima donnaship that has rewarded us with eight different patterns which may increase by a couple more after the 14 June announcement. INSANITY!
The USMC/USN issue over the AOR1 and its similarity to Desert MARPAT is hilarious. Hard to believe Big Navy allowed the USMC to bully its way, leaving the ground sailor with DCU, despite the obvious advantage that AOR1 has (not even accounting for all the $ spent to make it) VANITY is INSANITY esp. on the service level during wartime.
That is a story that makes the rounds but I question its veracity. I have long held that it had more to do with getting SOCOM to pay for SEAL equipment than USMC jealousy.
Excellent point. If US4CES is not selected; it is due to Pentagon brass not want the Army in similar color camo as the Marines. The first reason behind the camo wars.
As Martha Stuart would say; CadPat, it’s a good thing.
very interesting read, Guy is one smart cookie.
Great article.
I always found myself analyzing camo when using NOD’s. A lot of this stuff seemed pretty obvious to me. I was always amazed how well UCP worked with NOD’s on vs. how terrible it was in day light. Now they just need to authorize soldiers to paint their weapons or have the companies building them coat them in a different color. It shouldn’t cost anything different than coating them in black.
As far as solid color ppe, in a military force a transitional pattern is needed but if it is just me I will stick with coyote/rg as they both work well and it is much cheaper. Civi’s don’t have giant budgets.
The Army is authorized to paint weapons while deployed (Army say’s it’s okay, but the final yay or nay is with the unit commander). Nearly nobody does it because the weapon must be returned with ZERO paint, and walking through the dfac line with a painted weapon makes you look like a SF wannabe POG, because about 80% of personnel are support, even if you are support that leaves the wire just as much infantry.
Who cares if someone looks like a “sf wannabe”. This is not a fashion trend. It doesn’t matter how effective ones camo is when you walk around with black weapons that stick out like a sore thumb. Especially using nods when you can’t see someone besides their ir strobe until they turn around and bam you spot their weapon instantly. It defeats the point of camo. Whether one is a pogue or not.
Great article well worth the read. But all of this makes me ask for the 728th time why of one can’t we really have one family of camo patterns?? Does the us marine corps really need one all to themselves. This is really pissed me off because I was in expeditionary security when we switched out of the woodlands, and now I have my friend running around the gulf in woodland pattern so the dam core can have their own pattern. Last time I check what makes a marine a marine has nothing with what camo they had on. I say this as someone who been in the field with marines and I have nothing but respect for them, we’ll unless they are hogging the chow line on my ship. Just to top everything off we are going to spend millions more on another family of camp..terrific.
Saving lives out weighs the cost of implimenting new camo. The Army failed with UCP and probably cost many lives. The cost will be the same whether all branches switch to the same camo or develop their own. Why? Because they still have to pay for that equipment regardless of what pattern it comes in. The only difference is what they look like.
I thought part 3 was going to be the last one. Still, I enjoy reading Mr. Cramer’s articles and am eagerly awaiting part 4. (And part 5. ;))
His articles before the decision are a good sign.
I do not know who the winner is.
Mr. Cramer,
Will ADS sell gear in all the patterns, not just the OCIE/PPE sepcific?
I don’t know, that is up to them to decide.
Of course it isn’t the answer, they want their camo picked lol, no bias there 🙂
Nothing wrong with universal camo for all military, been that way for years. OD, DCU, M81…
I would be much interested in data concerning Ranger Green in the tests, especially agains Khaki. How does RG perform in the NIR/SWIR spectrum? And where does that color come from anyway? I can’t seem to find sources on that.
I have a stake in pushing the French Army towards Ranger Green instead of Coyote Tan (or Khaki) which they prefer now for PPE (moving towards a true modern camo pattern for PPE would be best of course). I feel that the green base of RG should allow for better performance in the NIR range over the tan base of Khaki in most environments. Am I right?
You’ll have to ask your country for the information as that data is tightly controlled. What I provided is about all they’ve released in the public forum.
Interesting historical article on MARPAT. The inclusion of the longer wavelength (SWIR) piece was misleading. The use of short wave length IR devices (InGaAs) on dismounted personnel is currently very limited.
Additionally getting any textile to match the reflectance curve of all terrains i.e. sand in the desert and chlorophyll in woodland is nigh on impossible to any effective level
And lets not forget that as soon as you illuminate anything in the 700nm – 1.4micron wavelength you’re effectively sending up a flag telling everyone “I’m here”.
I didn’t have a smart phone 5 years ago, now everyone has one. If we are developing camouflage now that may still be used 5-10-15 years down the road and SWIR is not considered as a factor at this time, then we are providing a disservice to the soldier who may not currently run into an adversary with that technology but will eventually.
While I don’t want to (but probably will) drag out the point, there needs to be a reality check on what’s achievable and what Scotty would call changing the laws of physics.
Range to target, atmospheric conditions, hell even the detergent used in laundry all have an effect at shorter wavelengths on probability of detection. I use the word detection deliberately as at stand off ranges that’s all your doing. In the context of this thread identifying a target is a much more close quarters issue than with any particular camo pattern and its nIR/SWIR performance.
The reality is that many countries have and do use disruptive patterns developed 15 or more years ago and I’d argue that more problems have been caused by bad soldiering than by a particular camo’s efficacy as a print or nIR performance.
I am not changing the laws of physics, you may be surprise what is achievable without Sci-fi, but I am also not ignoring a part of the spectrum which will at some time become a critical component.
If it saves even one life and there is no extra cost involved then I would say, it was worth it!
iirc, doesnt the Canadian govt prohibit the sale of actual mil spec CADPAT uniforms to civilians because of the NIR coating? i believe they have to sell a neutered version without the coating…
Personally, if I decide to sell my used gear on ebay I “neuter” it before hand if it’s AOR1 or 2. You just run some tide free and clear on it. It doesn’t brighten the colors visibly but if you look at it through NODs it lights up like an f’en christmas tree.
I didn’t realize that SWIR devices required InGaAs semiconductors. Since that is the case I don’t see them taking off in popularity anytime soon. GaAs is extremely expensive to produce and requires very sophisticated manufacturing technology (part of it being a near perfect vacuum). I would assume there are going to be more cost effective solutions for the foreseeable future.
Man, these camo posts keep getting better and better. It is nice to be able to look at one place for so much info. Also, the level of info is outstanding.
Regarding the NIR issues of coyote:
While looking for fabric and webbing I have often read about solution dyed fabric/webbing and that it has better NIR properties.
There are also Multicam fabrics with and wizhout NIR protection, as you can see on Duro’s site.
And citing the Hyperstealth site:
“Deceptex patterns will be available for purchase by the general public. Ghostex patterns are only available to the U.S. Special Forces and use inks that also camouflage in the NIR (Near Infrared – Night Vision) spectrum. Deceptex uses non-Infrared inks (Deceptex patterns will not work under night vision cameras, scopes or sensors)”
So it’s not only about the colors but also the dye?
I’m a little irritated.
The last line of my paper “It is always best to keep it simple and use a set of colors (with the proper inks) which will get you close before having to turn to additives and coatings.”
What is being referenced are inks that work in the Near Infrared but are not designed to provide adequate color separation and/or reflectance values to match the background reflectance in the NIR and SWIR.
Thanks for the great articles so far! It’s really interesting to read.
As a thought, with all the pictures and examples, what you really spot isn’t the (apparently) not so perfect Coyote Brown, but their black equipment (glasses, weapons etc.).
To be able to achieve perfect camouflage, then someone needs to notify someone (maybe someone important) about their black geometrical shapes.
I thought Urban MARPAT was the ACU.
I meant the ACU was derived from Urban MARPAT.
No, it is the product of an unholy coupling of MARPAT and the Urban Track patterns.
Ok because it shows it here
http://www.hyperstealth.com/CADPAT-MARPAT.htm
http://www.kamouflage.net/camouflage/00030.php
except urban MARPAT looks like it would actually be effective against the streets and sidewalks of a major city. it has 4 colors vs 3 in UCP and has enough contrast between the colors to give the pattern depth. UCP has 3 colors that all read as grey and have no pattern separation past 25 yds