GORE-TEX Military Fabrics

Posts Tagged ‘GHOSTEX’

Activision Selects Ghostex Camouflage for “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2”

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

Activision Publishing, Inc, has selected Ghostex camouflage patterns for use in “Call of Duty: Black Ops II.” As you will recall Ghostex is a Hyperstealth/ADS Inc joint venture that has been providing specialized camouflage development and print-on-demand solutions for specialized customers since 2010. A few of the patterns have been released to the public including the Delta-6 pattern seen below which will be included in the game.

20121113-115917.jpg The web has been abuzz with chatter about specialty camouflage patterns that can be unlocked during game play and Ghostex is it. Notice I said patterns with an “S” meaning I’d expect to see additional Ghostex variants show up in the game. www.ghostex.com

ADS Reveals Camo ExpertiseADS Tactical

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

ADS Inc never stops surprising us. Over time, we’ve come to know about their Ghostex program and their work with HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp on specialized camouflage patterns for Afghanistan. Most recently, they’ve teamed with Guy Cramer to win as spot as finalists in the US Army’s most ambitious camouflage improvement effort to date.

Now, they’ve launched a new section of their website dedicated to all of their camouflage programs. Not only will you see some better images of their US4CES-Delta patterns that we revealed here on SSD during SHOT Show, but they also reveal additional information on their Army-finalist Alpha family of patterns as well as some a few of the variants from the Ghostex Advanced Camouflage System.

Last, but certainly not least, ADS has been a prime supplier of critical clothing and equipment in the US Army’s Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP), commercially known as MultiCam. Both FREE and ECWCS Gen III are provided by ADS Inc and they have adopted both environmental clothing systems for issue in OCP.

ADS has informed me that they plan on adding to the camo section of the website as new information becomes available. In particular, we are looking forward to seeing additional Ghostex patterns as well as a glimpse of what their Army candidate patterns will look like on ACUs and OCIE. It is definitely worth taking a look at what they have going on.

www.adsinc.com/solutions/clothing-programs/camouflage-solutions

2012 – The Year of Materials

Monday, January 9th, 2012

We’ve already seen a prediction that 2012 will be the year of camouflage, and to a degree with this is true. Lots of patterns will be unveiled pursuant the US Army Camouflage Improvement Effort but with their program slipping further and further behind schedule the home run, winner-take-all announcement doesn’t look good for this year.

Instead, I’d like to propose that materials will be king this year. Whether they are completely new or just new ways of using existing ones, materials will have a major impact on our industry in 2012 and beyond.
We’ve already seen materials making a toe-hold. Consider Tyr Tactical’s PV material or Blue Force Gear’s Helium Whisper and you can see that there is a gradual shift in basic materials application. Then, there is whole revolution in digital printing that is allowing companies like GHOSTEX and Special Operations Apps to rapidly develop and produce new, tailored camouflage patterns as well as clothing and equipment in those patterns. The day when a client can identify an operational area and the radios, weapons and other equipment to be used and have clothing and individual equipment tailored in form and function within weeks rather than months is here. The scale is still limited but the capability exists.

Changes unveiled this year will shake some trees and leave a lasting impact how we do business. Even more importantly, these developments will inspire further changes in the out years as a new generation of developers begins to search outside the box for inspiration.

Look for a few of these new applications over the next few weeks and you’ll see what we mean.

The Mother of All Afghan Camo Solicitation

Friday, January 6th, 2012

The synopsis for this solicitation entitled, “Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment, uniforms and field jackets for the Afghanistan National Security Forces to include the Afghanistan National Army and Afghanistan National Police” is almost shorter than the title, “Contractor shall provide Organizational Clothing and Individual Equipment (OCIE) uniforms and field jackets for the Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF) to include the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) and Afghanistan National Police (ANP).”

Initially released over the holidays and updated today, the “Mother of All Afghan Camo Solicitation” as we are calling it, originated with US Forces in Afghanistan and has a pretty short response time. Offerors must reply by Jan 20, 2012 at 7:00 am Eastern. But with a contract ceiling of $150 Million, the juice definitely looks to be worth the squeeze if you have the contacts in country to make this happen.

Now, here’s the kicker, assembly of the uniforms and equipment must be accomplished in Afghanistan but materials can be imported…from any country. However, due to proprietary restrictions there is a directed source (ADS) for 3 of the 6 camouflage patterns required to complete the contract such as the GHOSTEX Kilo-1 seen above. It is important to note that ALL 6 patterns are Afghan patterns and already in use by their forces so they aren’t looking for new camo.

Afghan SF in Ghostex Kilo-1 Pattern ADS Inc

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Previously adopted by the Afghanistan Border Police, the Ghostex Kilo-1 Pattern is now in use by Afghan Special Forces.

You may notice that the pattern is complimentary to the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP) in use with US Army and Air Force units in Afghanistan. This is because the US Government stipulated that this pattern must have similar coloration but yet be distinctively different from OCP. This is so that the forces could work in concert during operations but would not be mistaken for one another in close proximity.

Here you can see the two patterns side by side.

Ghostex is a joint venture between ADS Inc and Canada-based HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation.

Whiskey 5 – Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Who
Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp.

What
A world leader in CCD (Camouflage, Concealment and Deception); Over two million military uniforms now use Hyperstealth patterns. While specializing in camouflage patterns for Individual Soldiers the company has also worked on CCD solutions for Military Ground Equipment, Aircraft, UAVs (Drones), Structures, Ships and Submarines.

Guy Cramer, President/CEO developed the KA2 digital camouflage in 2003 for the Kingdom of Jordan, under the direct commission of King Abdullah II. The country of Jordan has produced over 800,000 uniforms in this pattern and painted the pattern on over 3000 of their military vehicles.

In 2004 Cramer teamed with Lt. Col. Timothy R. O’Neill, Ph.D. (U.S. Army, Ret.), considered the world expert on camouflage, to develop the USMC Overwhite (snow camouflage) and the new Afghanistan National Army uniform camouflage, through the U.S. Government (1.1 million uniforms).

Cramer/O’Neill have worked together on CCD programs for over 40 countries and with W.L. Gore (Gore-Tex) on new science based hunting patterns under the “Optifade” line. Cramer/O’Neill collaborate on most projects, excluding those presenting a conflict of interest.

In March 2010, Hyperstealth completed the CUEPAT (Canadian Urban Environment Pattern) development for the Canadian Forces: Defenece Research and Development Canada (DRDC). Two of these Hyperstealth patterns are currently being field trialed.

They have over 10,000 camouflage patterns under international copyright. Cramer is now the top camouflage pattern designer in the world.

Where
Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. was established in 1999 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Hyperstealth Biotechnology Inc. was also established in 1999 and is located in Boulder, Colorado.

When
Unlike most of their competitors who began in commercial production, Hyperstealth started developing camouflage in 2003 for the military side and this still remains 95% of their core business; up to this point the company has had little reason to market their patterns to the general public or provide staged photos of their patterns in backgrounds which complement the pattern.

Using proprietary fractal algorithms (natural feedback loop patterns) Cramer was the first to successfully merge fractals into camouflage making the target harder to acquire than without the fractals. From 2003-Present Cramer has developed over 13 separate unique algorithms (fractals being only 1 of the 13) to optimize camouflage to disrupt the target shape while also blending the target into the background.

Hyperstealth has worked with all four branches of the U.S. Military and with various components of the Special Operations community. When lives depend on the effectiveness of your product, you need to give 110% to understanding what works and what doesn’t work. Hyperstealth is the only company which can set up objective testing (endorsed by the U.S. Government) of camouflage patterns and thus are aware of what works down to the millisecond and what fails to work. For reasons of security they do not share these results outside of the U.S. or Canadian governments.

Cramer corresponded on a number of programs at the request of Senator John Warner’s office, while he was chairman of the Armed Services Committee. A number of Cramer’s scenarios made it all the way to the President’s Science and Technology Adviser at The White House.

Due to the security surrounding much of what Hyperstealth does, most of it is not disclosed, or is delayed for public disclosure for many years. So while you may think you’re seeing the newest pattern from Hyperstealth at a tradeshow or on their web site, odds are, it’s already 4-5 years old.

What Else
In 2010 Hyperstealth announced “Smartcamo”; an intelligent textile which changes its color to match the background of the wearer in almost all environments. Further application of Smartcamo onto ground vehicles is expected to precede any wide scale uniform program as power and processors are one limiting factor for the individual soldier application.

In 2011 Cramer announced “Quantum Stealth” (Light Bending material) non-powered adaptive camouflage which portrays what is behind the user in-front of the user bending the light around the target. The cost is inexpensive, very lightweight and there are no power requirements. This technology was recently shown and sampled with a number of experts for the U.S. Military to verify the abilities of the material.

GHOSTEX
Hyperstealth and ADS Inc. initiated Ghostex last year, using new rapid production machinery; Hyperstealth can print any pattern to MilSpec fabric with inks that work in the NIR then send the material to ADS where they assemble 1 – 50+ uniforms in any of these new Ghostex patterns and colors with reasonable turnaround time.

Hyperstealth has been refining the system for short run production for field trial uniforms for countries military soldier upgrade programs. Current the company estimates they are printing 400 yards per month on these machines for Special Forces and country uniform programs.

For 2012 Cramer says there is a new technology he is working on which should be another leap forward in personal concealment with a material which can change colors allowing the user to dial in the closest colors by manually shifting through the camouflage color spectrum to match the background and/or time of day. More details to follow shortly.

In October 2011 HyperStealth signed a series of exclusive camouflage pattern licenses for SOPAT (Special Operations Pattern), SpecAm and CAMOPAT patterns and also the Passive Negative Ion Generator to Elba-Onyx Enterprises (an affiliate of The Onyx Group) with exclusive licenses for NATO, the European Union and non-exclusive licenses outside of these territories.

Hyperstealth also recently announced that the company has retained the services of The 132 Group as Advisers and Consultants. The 132 Group provide programmatic, equipment specific, and Business Development services to companies desiring to develop or increase their technologies or ability to provide their specific goods and services to the Government.

Bill Jarvis, the principle of The 132 Group, has accompanied Cramer on a number of briefings to different U.S. Special Forces Commands, British Military,and the Royal Navy earlier this year and is one of only a few people to see the actual SMARTCAMO (color changing) and also the Quantum Stealth (Light Bending) materials.

Just in the last few months, Hyperstealth has been featured in the “Atlantic” magazine, The Globe and Mail (Canada’s National Newspaper), Business in Vancouver, the Financial Times in London, Military Times, CNN and a live interview on the NPR (National Public Radio).

With Hyperstealth patterns being used in some upcoming large feature films, scientific documentaries and other large commercial companies upcoming pattern releases you may think you’re about to see it all, but it’s what the company can’t show you which really sets it above and beyond all others.

HyperStealth is referenced in the NATO Programme for Security through Science.

www.hyperstealth.com

OCP Side-by-Side with Ghostex Kilo-1

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

Yesterday we mentioned that the Ghostex Kilo-1 pattern had been adopted for use by the Afghanistan Border Police. As you can see, it uses a similar color palette to the Army’s OCP (MultiCam) but the geometry is different.

Afghan Border Police Adopt Ghostex Pattern

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation has announced that the Afghanistan Border Police (ABP), an elite division of the Afghanistan National Police (ANP) with a strength of around 20,000 has authorized the Ghostex Kilo-1 pattern as their new uniform camouflage.

You may notice that the pattern looks complimentary to the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP) currently used in Afghanistan by the US Army and Air Force. This is because the US Government stipulated that the new ABP pattern must have similar coloration but yet be distinctively different. This is so that the forces could work in concert during operations but would not be mistaken for one another in close proximity. Based on this requirement, HyperStealth was able to offer three different patterns from the Ghostex line the same day the request came in.

A Purchase Order has been issued and the first 12,000 yards of fabric has been already been printed. The fabric is milled and printed in the US and then sent to Afghanistan for assembly by Afghanistan citizens working for Afghanistan companies.

This is not the first time HyperStealth has worked with the Afghanis. In 2009, the Afghanistan National Army (ANA) chose Hyperstealth’s Spec4ce Afghan Forest pattern for their uniforms.

Ghostex is a joint venture between ADS Inc and Canada-based HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation.