Last Fall, Australian Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced that they would be adopting MultiCam uniforms for their troops deploying to Afghanistan. He also made mention of a deal in the works with Crye Precision to develop an Australia specific derivative similar to what Crye did for the UK when they produced Multi Terrain Pattern (MTP).
According to Defence Materiel Organisation chief executive Dr Stephen Gumley, the first 5000 sets of the new MultiCam uniforms are being issued to troops in Afghanistan. Australian SF have been using MultiCam for several years but this is a first for conventional Australian troops who most recently had been trialling a uniform in the so-called DPMU pattern based on the distinct Auscam pattern but with Afghanistan specific coloring.
Earlier today, BRIG Mike Phelps (Director General, Integrated Soldier Systems Division, Land Systems Division, Defence Materiel Organisation) announced that they had issued contracts with Crye in the amount of $US4.7 million for a license to manufacture in Australia and $US3.1 million for Crye to develop a uniquely Australian camouflage pattern. He went on to add that the first prototypes should be available in five weeks.