Multi-Terrain Pattern | |
---|---|
Type | Military camouflage pattern |
Place of origin | United Kingdom |
Service history | |
In service | March 2010 – present |
Used by | See Users |
Wars | War in Afghanistan Iraq War Russo-Ukrainian War |
Production history | |
Designer | Defence Science and Technology Laboratory |
Designed | 2002 |
Produced | 2010–present |
TheMulti-Terrain Pattern (MTP) is the standard camouflage pattern of the British Armed Forces. [1]
As part of the British Ministry of Defence's (MOD) Personal Equipment and Common Operational Clothing (PECOC) programme, three new camouflage patterns were considered for issue to British forces. These were a revised temperate Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) using lighter colours, a new three-colour desert pattern with enhanced utility for night-time operations, and a hybrid four colour scheme using two colours from each of the previous patterns for use on webbing in all terrains.
Following an Urgent Operational Requirement for a camouflage uniform for the Afghan theatre of operations, and the success of a commercially available pattern (Crye's MultiCam) when tested in trials, a decision was made to use MultiCam as the basis of a new Multi-Terrain Pattern for British armed forces, replacing the previous temperate DPM uniforms. Desert DPM uniforms were to be retained but later entirely replaced alongside Woodland DPM.[ citation needed ]
The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence announced that HM Forces would be issued with the new British Army uniform for operations in Afghanistan with personnel serving under the 4th Mechanised Brigade; [2] initially issued to personnel deployed on Operation Herrick from March 2010, then issued more widely to HM Forces from 2011 onward replacing all DPM including Woodland and Desert variants of the Combat Soldier 95 uniform by 2013 along with the introduction of the new Personal Clothing System. [3]
The MTP camouflage design was intended to perform consistently across a wide range of environments encountered, particularly for operations that the military had been deployed in during 2009. Initial concept was made with the environment of Helmand Province in mind. [2]
British Troops in Afghanistan operate in a mixed landscape, including desert, woodland, mountains and urban. The development team at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory tested various camouflage variations against the standard army disruptive pattern material and the desert DPM to determine the best balance of colours. The current HM Armed Forces camouflage were then tested alongside off-the-shelf multi-terrain camouflage. The tests were against terrain that soldiers are likely to encounter across the landscape in Afghanistan. [4]
A wide range of camouflage colours were tried in Britain, Cyprus, Kenya and Afghanistan. [5] Camouflage patterns were compared with in-service and commercially available patterns—including those from Crye Precision in the United States. The trials included visual comparisons, objective assessments of the time to detect the different camouflage patterns against different backgrounds, and subjective user opinions on the efficacy of the performance.
Crye's "Multicam" pattern was determined to be the best performing, across the widest range of environments (by a significant margin) and was subsequently selected as the basis for the new British MTP camouflage, and combined with the shapes of the existing British DPM pattern. Crye designed the new pattern for the UK's MOD, with the MOD holding the licence to print the pattern. The MTP pattern itself was not tried against other patterns and its adoption was based solely on its similarity to the original Crye Multicam pattern. [6] [7]
In 2019, a variant of the MTP camouflage pattern was selected by the New Zealand Defence Force to replace the current issue MCU service uniform across all services by 2023. Designated NZMTP, the new camouflage has a modified colour palette better suited to New Zealand's landscape. [8]
The UK's Royal Marines announced in June 2020 that they would be procuring new uniforms specifically for the Marines, taking them away from the standard PCS uniforms of the UK forces. Also announced was that the camouflage pattern would be in Crye's Multicam, not the UK's MTP. The uniform is the off-the-shelf G4 system not sold in MTP as Crye had sold the sole production rights for MTP to the UK. [9] [10]
The New Zealand Army is the principal land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress uniforms worn in functions and parades. It generally consists of a jacket, trousers and shirt or T-shirt, all cut to be looser and more comfortable than more formal uniforms. Design may depend on regiment or service branch, e.g. army, navy, air force, marines, etc. In the army branches, fabrics tend to come in camouflage, disruptive pattern or else green, brown or khaki monochrome, in order to approximate the background and make the soldier less visible in nature. In Western dress codes, field uniform is considered equivalent to civilian casual wear. As such, field uniform is considered less formal than service dress uniform, generally aimed at office or staff use, as well as mess dress uniform, and full dress uniform.
Personal load carrying equipment (PLCE) is one of several tactical webbing systems of the British Armed Forces. Dependent upon the year of design, and the decade of introduction, the webbing system was named and is commonly referred to as the 85 Pattern, the 90 Pattern or the 95 Pattern webbing.
Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) is the commonly used name of a camouflage pattern used by the British Armed Forces as well as many other armed forces worldwide, particularly in former British colonies.
The Denison smock was a coverall jacket issued to Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents, the Parachute Regiment, the Glider Pilot Regiment, Air Landing Regiments, air observation post squadrons, Commando units, and other Commonwealth airborne units, to wear over their Battle Dress uniform during the Second World War, remaining in service with the British Army until the early 1970s when it was replaced by a version in the Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) smock. The garment was also issued as standard to the scout and sniper platoons of line infantry battalions.
Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU), also nicknamed Auscam, jelly bean camo, or hearts and bunnies is a five-colour military camouflage pattern used by the Australian Defence Force. Replacing the jungle greens used from WWII, it was developed and tested during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The uniform was trialled in 1987, with it being slowly introduced in late 1989, with the last production and discontinuation of the jungle greens being in late 1990. Jungle greens were last issued in late 1991 for Australian Regular Army, and late 1994 for Australian Army Reserve.
MultiCam is a camouflage pattern designed for use in a wide range of environments and conditions which was developed and is produced by American company Crye Precision. As a result of the pattern's tried-and-true effectiveness across disparate environments and regions, it has found extensive adoption globally. Variants of it, some unlicensed, are in use with militaries worldwide, particularly with special forces/special operations forces units.
The uniforms of the British Army currently exist in twelve categories ranging from ceremonial uniforms to combat dress. Uniforms in the British Army are specific to the regiment to which a soldier belongs. Full dress presents the most differentiation between units, and there are fewer regimental distinctions between ceremonial dress, service dress, barrack dress and combat dress, though a level of regimental distinction runs throughout.
The New Zealand disruptive pattern material, also known as New Zealand DPM (NZDPM), was the official camouflage pattern on uniforms of the New Zealand Defence Force from 1980 until 2013. It was replaced with a new pattern called Multi Terrain Camouflage (MCU) which was exclusive to the NZDF. This was in turn replaced by the New Zealand Multi Terrain Pattern (NZMTP) from 2020.
The Mk 6 helmet is a type of combat helmet that was the standard of the British Armed Forces as well as another supplied helmet of the UN during peacekeeping operations. The Mk 6 replaced the Mk IV helmet in army service and the RAC helmet in naval service. The jump in MK numbers is thought due to the confusion surrounding the MK IV helmet using the MK V lining, introduced in 1959.
An Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) is a system used by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) to obtain urgent equipment for operations. UORs supplement the MOD's long-term planned procurement programme, and are funded by extra Treasury money.
The Canadian Disruptive Pattern is the computer-generated digital camouflage pattern developed for use by the Canadian Armed Forces. Four operational variations of CADPAT have been used by the Canadian Armed Forces: a temperate woodland pattern, an arid regions pattern, a winter operations pattern, and a multi-terrain pattern.
Jigsaw camouflage is the colloquial term for a series of camouflage patterns used by the Belgian Armed Forces between 1956 and 2022 and subsequently adapted in several other countries.
Vista All Terrain Pattern is a commercially available camouflage pattern designed to be very similar to the military Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) currently issued to the British Armed Forces and a small number of other nations.
The New Zealand Army uniform has changed over the years from that of the original Armed Constabulary of the 1800s to the modern Army Combat Uniform style in use by the majority of world armies today. While British Army influence has always been strong, distinctive New Zealand features have gradually developed. From 2013 the New Zealand Army uniform underwent a complete redesign with a new and distinctive camouflage pattern unique to the NZDF.
General Purpose Uniform (GPU) is the working uniform of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP), originally codenamed Scorpion W2, is a military camouflage pattern adopted in 2015 by the United States Army for use as the U.S. Army's main camouflage pattern on the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). This pattern officially replaced the U.S. Army's previous Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) as the official combat uniform pattern for most U.S. soldiers at the end of September 2019. The pattern also superseded the closely related MultiCam, a pattern previously used for troops deploying to Afghanistan.
The Australian Multicam Camouflage Uniform (AMCU) is the combat uniform camouflage pattern for the Australian Defence Force, general issued from 2014 onwards. The AMCU replaced the Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU) and Australian Multicam Pattern - Operational Combat Uniform (AMP-OCU) camouflage patterns.
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