UCP-Delta pattern in Kandahar province, Afghanistan
Defense Tech has the first exclusive look at the Universal Camouflage Pattern — Delta being worn by US Army personnel in the field in Afghanistan.
Also check by at Soldier Systems for additional pictures, including the MultiCam competitor in the field trials.
MultiCam in Kunar province, Afghanistan
Finnish M-05 snow camo on Strike-Hold!
Over at Strike-Hold!, Lawrence has been as busy as Santa’s elves collating a wish-list of currently available (although how available might depend on who you are!) snow camouflage. Have you written your letter to QM Claus yet? If not, check it out!
Over on Strike-Hold!, Lawrence has put together a bunch of photo’s showing how Bulldog’s Mirage camouflage compares to MultiCam and the US Army’s Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP). The States are re-evaluating their ground-troops’ camo uniform in the light of a less-than-satisfactory performance from their grey* toned UCP in Afghanistan. It’s expected that Crye’s MultiCam will participate in the contest, and maybe some other recently developed patterns will be in the running too. Lawrence’s photo shoot gives some idea of how these likely contenders appear side-by-side in the same light and environmental conditions.
Mirage, MultiCam, UCP side by side
*UCP’s colours are officially Desert Sand, Urban Gray and Foliage Green. To all intents and purposes that’s cream, light steel grey and medium slate grey.
Those wacky bureaucrats at the Chinese Ministry of Defence! I don’t know, not satisfied with hollowing out islands in the South China Sea to build secret Thunderbird naval bases, or reverse engineering several different jet plane technologies to make one cut-and-shut that doesn’t quite work, they’ve decided to stretch the remit of the PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) to encompass entertainment for bored dignitaries. The PLA have been training hard to perfect a number of choreographed song and dance routines, executed in colourful costumes. Here they are singing their version of The Weathermen’s It’s Raining Men, in a subtle little clouds-and-sky patterned camouflage. Sweet.
Chinese PLA soldiers wearing cloud-patterned camouflage
So, what would you do with two and a quarter million troops, a growing defence budget and no enemies? Party, of course!
Thanks to T. Zeng and ICUS for the tip.
Two recent posts on the Strike-Hold! website resonate with me. The first concerns the International Special Training Centre (ISTC) Sniper Course at Grafenwoehr, Germany. The article itself is a worthwhile read, but most striking is this picture:
U.S. Army Master Sgt. Eric Ludan, an instructor for the International Special Training Centre's (ISTC) Sniper Course provides feedback to two Special Forces Soldiers following a live-fire exercise July 24 at the Grafenwoehr Training Area. The Sniper Course is an intense five-week course that teaches NATO Special Operations Forces (SOF) in basic sniper fundamentals. The students spent the night stalking and observing their targets during the evaluated exercise. The facilities at the Joint Multinational Training Command allow the SOF throughout NATO to train to standard. (U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Gina Vaile-Nelson, 133rd MPAD)
If ever a more succinct illustration were needed of the benefits of selecting your personal concealment with the terrain of your operational area in mind, surely this is it. See how the US Army’s ‘Universal’ Camouflage Pattern (UCP) stands out like a glowing grey ghost against the lightly wooded background, and even the khaki-looking Multicam worn by the spotter in the middle of the picture appears out of place. In a real operation, the spotter would no doubt have customised his garb with dirt, scrim and fresh foliage to render it less visible, or even worn a ghillie like the German sniper in the foreground, but I have reservations about the utility of such techniques when used to attempt to compensate for UCP’s ineffectiveness. A pig wearing lipstick is still a pig.
The other Strike-Hold! story that I found particularly interesting tells of how some British soldiers in Afghanistan’s Helmand province are dyeing their desert camouflaged under-armour combat shirts (UBACS) a curious greeny-blue. You can read it here. UK readers may have seen about this in the Daily Mail or the Sun (where a disengenuous, hysterical spin was put on the issue to make more of the story than meets the eye), but the original source of the pictures, and a hint as to the explanation why, is found in Michael Yon’s excellent blog, penned from the frontline in Afghanistan.
Into the Green Zone
I can’t help wondering how something like this might work, out in the green zone…
PenCott multi-environment camouflage pattern
PenCott multi-environment camouflage pattern
A MASTER of disguise has been uncovered living in Australian waters.
Photo: Dr Karen Cheney
The blue-striped fangblenny is the first fish found to be able to change its colour at will to mimic a variety of other fish.Its repertoire of colour changes includes olive, orange, and black and electric blue, and it appears to use colour vision to achieve its incognito exploits, new research shows.
University of Queensland biologist, Karen Cheney, said that her examination of the little fish’s eyes showed they should be able to detect different hues. They also have a habit of curling their tail around to touch their head, so they can see their body. “It is possible that fangblennies can view some of their own colouration,” Dr Cheney said.
The only other creature known to be able to imitate other species is the mimic octopus, which alters its colour and shape to resemble lionfish, flatfish and sea snakes.
Dr Cheney and her colleagues had studied the habits of fangblennies on coral reefs in Australia and Indonesia. Their results are published in the journal Proceedings Of The Royal Society.
For food, fangblennies dart out and attack larger reef fish, nipping off tiny pieces of their fins, scales or mucus.
In olive mode they tend to hang out in shoals of similarly coloured damselfish, and in orange mode they mingle with yellow anthias.
“Their repertoire of disguises appears to prevent, or reduce detection by potential victims,” Dr Cheney said. “They may also escape from predators by hiding in a large shoal.”
Their most striking talent is to impersonate black-and-blue juvenile cleaner wrasse – fish that provide a cleaning service for other reef fish by picking parasites off their backs.
The researchers were surprised the fangblennies did not attack reef fish that came to have their parasites removed.
Dr Cheney said this probably helped maintain good relations with cleaner wrasse.
“Otherwise the cleaner fish could get aggressive and chase them away.”
She has found that when the fangblennies are removed from a shoal they can revert to what appears to be their default colour, brown, within a few minutes. Brown ones tended to hide away in holes in the reef, Dr Cheney said.
March 3, 2009
Boa Constrictor
Here’s a great BBC slideshow for fans of animal camo, with a voice-over provided by Professor Innes Cuthill from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol.
“Appearance, it seems, is key to survival in the animal kingdom – with some species able to blend in perfectly with their surroundings, while others behave quite the contrary.”
Images may be subject to BBC copyright.
Who said police work was dull? These are the subtle and understated uniforms of a Bangladeshi police unit, as seen during the country’s recent general election. Maybe there actually is such a thing as the Fashion Police.
Hat tip to Mr E. Larson at the International Camouflage Uniform Society for bringing this to my attention. Don’t know how I could have missed it!
It’s been a while since I put up any pictures of camouflage in nature, so it is fortunate that the Scienceray web magazine has just published an article by Chan Lee Peng on that very subject.
I particularly like this photo of some ibex against a rock strewn mountain side, demonstrating both the effectiveness of their khaki coloured, countershaded bodies at blending, and the magical way that their black-and-white striped legs can break up and disappear against a ‘noisy’ background.
More fantastic pictures of leaf mimics and disruptively patterned creatures here.
Saw this on Soldier Systems and just had to share it with you: If you already have some camouflaged toilet paper, but need to remain tactical when travelling to and from the bathroom, these bathrobes (dressing-gowns in the UK) manufactured in Multicam fabric should do the job. Multicam is designed to be effective in many environments, which maybe even includes the bedroom or bathroom, who knows?
They are made by Wilderness Tactical Products and come in short or long flavours, as shown.
I’m offering a prize for the best caption to this pic (photo courtesy of Wilderness Tactical Products) – post your suggestions in the comments box.
