Primary Arms

Posts Tagged ‘Australia’

What’s The Latest On RAAF Camo? I’ll Give You A Hint, It’s Blue

Wednesday, October 9th, 2013

Awhile back we showed you an atrocious Blue variant of the Australian MultiCam Pattern being trialled by the Royal Australian Air Force.

RAAF AMP 1

According to a story in the RAAF newspaper, this new uniform, known as the General Purpose Uniform, will begin to replace the current DPCU for RAAF personnel beginning on the Air Force birthday in March, 2014. According to Air Marshall Brown, Chief of the RAAF, this uniform is for noncombat use, “to be worn within the workplace and on non-warlike operational duties such as deployments on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.” Those deploying to operational areas will receive appropriate uniforms for the environment. This design was chosen over three other candidate patterns.

Thanks JD for the heads up!

Australian Soldier – 360 Degree View

Tuesday, September 10th, 2013

Australian Soldier 360

The Australian Army has released an interactive 360 degree view of the modern Australian soldier. Four different profiles are featured, and each includes datapoints that, when clicked, give a detailed description of the function of their gear.

www.army.gov.au/Our-future/3D-soldier

RAAF Blue MultiCam Variant – The Rest Of The Story

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

Remember this photo we posted of a blue variant of the Australian MultiCam Pattern developed for the Royal Australian Air Force? Apparently, it promoted a query to the Department of Defence.

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Questions:
1.) Are there any variants (colour variants or otherwise) of the AMP being tested, considered, or evaluated. In particular, is there a ‘blue’ RAAF version as seen here (https://soldiersystems.net/2013/06/27/an-raaf-variant-of-amp/)
2.) Are there publicly available results of the comparative camouflage testing in which AMP featured? If not, when are these expected to be made available.
3.) What is the timeframe for the rollout of AMP to various units (including an variants), and will CPCU uniforms also be replaced?

A Defence Spokesman responded to all of the questions with this statement:
RAAF and Army currently wear the same Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU). RAAF is currently considering alternative patterns and/or colours which would easily identify Air Force personnel from Army personnel. The new uniform would provide the same protection from the elements as DPCU.

The image you are referring to is a prototype only. It was developed to provide a visual comparison to DPCU. This prototype is not being further considered. Patterns and/or colour variants of the new uniform are currently under development, hence no further information on timeframes can be provided at this time.

While we’re happy to see that this isn’t something that the RAAF plans on fielding, we have to wonder what these other variants might look like.

Thanks to N for the heads up!

It Costs A$27,700 to Outfit a Digger

Monday, July 1st, 2013

The War on Terror has resulted in a revolution in Soldier Systems here in the US as well as for our Allies. Prior to the war, the Australian Soldier was outfitted in an ensemble that, other than the 1980s-era DPCU camouflage, very much resembled what his forebears would have worn in Viet Nam.

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But, as you can see from this excellent graphic prepared by The Australian, the replacement of the old gear that cost taxpayers just A$3700 is striking. I would even venture to say, that the Australian Soldier is better equipped than his US counterpart with certain items. I’d say, the A$27,700 investment is money well spent.

An RAAF Variant of AMP?

Thursday, June 27th, 2013

Did the Royal Australian Air Force take a page from the US play book and develop a specialized Blue variant of the Australian MultiCam Pattern originally created by Crye Precision? If so, they are bluer than even the original USAF Tigerstripe Pattern.

20130626-194409.jpg

Normally, we won’t publish something without at least two sets of verification. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get that for this one but we believe it to be real. We are still unsure if this is a trial pattern or a planned version for the RAAF.

AMP was developed by Crye Precision under contract to the Australian military for use in Afghanistan. It integrates MultiCam and its very effective color palette with some of the more traditional Australian camouflage elements found in the long serving DPCU pattern.

Kryptek CUTS Commando Welfare Trust Auction

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

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Platatac is hosting a rather unusual auction on their Facebook wall. They are auctioning off one of the few CUTs combat shirts made in the Kryptek Mandrake pattern. Proceeds will benefit the Commando Welfare Trust

The copy reads.

This is an auction. Post nothing below other than the amount you are bidding in whole dollar amounts. You are expected to pay us with paypal as soon as we announce the winner. If you do not pay we will ban you from our facebook page. We will not hold, nor combine this with any other orders so don’t ask. READ THE ABOVE AND UNDERSTAND IT. You are looking at and bidding on an extremely rare, unworn and mint condition, built in Australia, Large Regular, Kryptek Mandrake PLATATAC Special Projects CUT Shirt. The reason you are bidding: All proceeds, minus postage, will go to the Australian Commando Welfare Trust. Less than 25 of the shirts have been built so far and are in very high demand. So bid strong, not only are you bidding on one bad arse shirt, your hard earned is going to an extremely worthwhile cause. Opening bid is $50.00 AUD. Auction will close NLT 1700 AEST Friday, 28/06/13. Shipping will be $16.50 AUD in the Australia and $25.00 AUD for International Bidders. Bid away and have fun.

If you’re interested, head on over to www.facebook.com to bid.

Wait, What?

Sunday, April 14th, 2013

Aussie Troop

Australian Army News Covers New Australian MultiCam Uniforms

Thursday, November 8th, 2012

Thanks NJ