Desert Night Camouflage

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Desert Night Camouflage
Desert night camouflage.JPG
Fabric sample of the DNC
Type Military camouflage pattern
Place of originUnited States
Service history
Used bySee Users
Wars

The Desert Night Camouflage pattern is a two-color grid camouflage pattern used by the United States military during the Gulf War. It was designed to aid soldiers in concealment from Soviet-based night vision devices (NVDs). [1] The pattern is now considered obsolete due to the increase in capability of foreign night vision devices. [2]

Contents

Even with the pattern being obsolete, it has gained interest due to the unusual look. [2]

History

During the Persian Gulf War, clothing sets in this pattern were issued to U.S. soldiers, designed to be worn over the issued six-color Desert Battle Dress Uniform during nighttime operations. [3]

No night-specific pattern has been created to replace this gear for nighttime use in a desert environment, as advancements in infrared reflectance technology in first the Desert Camouflage Uniform, and finally the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform and Army Combat Uniform have eliminated the need for a separate nighttime overgarment.

Design

The DNC's design was made from cross hatches and blotches, which was supposed to break up the wearer's image when looked at through various NVDs. [4] [5] The colors consisted of Axolotl and Laurel Green. [6] The interior of the clothes are made from olive drab green. [7]

The design was made for a parka, overpants and boonie hat. [4]

Criticism

A US Marine in DNC (second from the right) in an illustration of Marine field dresses during the Persian Gulf War. U.S. Marines in the Middle East, 1991 (1991), by Donna J. Neary.png
A US Marine in DNC (second from the right) in an illustration of Marine field dresses during the Persian Gulf War.

During the Gulf War, one scout/sniper section of a Marine Corps battalion conducted a night test comparing the visibility of the desert night camouflage clothing with six-color desert uniforms and winter overwhites. The night camouflage clothing proved to be more visible than both the day desert uniforms and winter overwhites when viewed though an AN/PVS-5 night vision device. [8]

The pattern was seen as effective on NVDs that were made in the 1970s. [5]

Users

References

  1. ↑ McFarlane, Charles (22 March 2019). "Who Made That Strange Pixelated Camo?". Put This On . Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  2. 1 2 Romsdahl, Isaac (21 March 2016). "Gulf War Desert Night Camouflage". Sportsman's Guide. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  3. ↑ Blechman, Hardy (6 August 2013). "The Complex Guide to Camo". Complex Networks . Archived from the original on 10 May 2016. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  4. 1 2 "United States of America section". www.battlefront.com (aka "Steve's Page Of Camo"). 2005. Archived from the original on 24 May 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Dougherty 2017, p. 82.
  6. ↑ "Desert Night Camouflage Color Scheme - Palettes - SchemeColor.com". SchemeColor. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  7. ↑ "Smock (Desert night camouflage): US Army". Imperial War Museums (IWM) website. UNI 6156. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "Night camo clothing (Ed Rudnicki)". yarchive.net. Archived from the original on 20 July 2001. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Top 20 Military Camouflage Patterns Around the World". Military Machine. 12 January 2020. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2025.

Bibliography

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