We have learned a bit more about the withdrawn Army pattern from the Camouflage Improvement Effort. Considering several indicators as well as sources of information we believe with a high degree of confidence that the withdrawn pattern is Scorpion. If this is true then it makes complete sense to withdraw the pattern. As it is, there is already OCP (MultiCam) being used as the transitional baseline pattern as well as a Crye Precision finalist family of patterns that are by all accounts, based on the successful MultiCam pattern but featuring individual patterns with specific environmental coloration. So, there will be plenty of MultiCam to go around.
DoD photo by RD Ward
As you can see from this photo, the pattern is in the MultiCam family but really more of an ancestor. Scorpion was developed by Crye Precision under contract for the Army’s Objective Force Warrior Program starting in the early 00s. As the Army transitioned the program it dropped the Scorpion pattern and Crye independently refined the pattern and began to slowly market it as MultiCam. Specialized military units saw promise in the pattern and began to use it. Simultaneously, it was picked up by the tactical industry and offered commercially making it easier for small unit adoption. This increased use of MultiCam by military forces is a truly successful case of grassroots marketing and by the late-00s it was being worn by both American as well as Allied SOF. Over the past two years it has been selected for use by the US Army and Air Force for use in Afghanistan as well as by the UK and Australian military in national variant forms.
Natick kept the Scorpion pattern in their vaults and would occasionally trot it out for experimentation and development including competitive testing. Since it was independently developed by the Army over the past decade the current version is going to be a bit different than Crye Precision’s MultiCam. Apparently, Scorpion was chosen by the Natick as their sole entry for the Army Camouflage Improvement Effort after the decision was made to go with four commercial families of patterns and one Government derived family rather than the original three and two. That tells us that someone has a lot of confidence in the design.
