The British Army has unveiled its new Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) Camouflage, which will replace the existing DPM camo. Forces in Afghanistan will start to get the new uniforms in March next year, with the whole army upgraded by 2011. MTP is designed for a wide range of environments, including the volatile “green zone” of Helmand province.
DPM has been in service with the British Army for almost 40 years, in two main patterns – woodland and desert. When it was adopted, the British Army was planning to fight in the wooded countryside areas of North West Europe. However, operations in Afghanistan, where desert adjoins green zone, have highlighted the need for a pattern that works well in both desert and wooded terrains.
Lt Col Toby Evans – a military advisor with the Government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory – told the BBC the new uniform was a compromise between having a uniform that was perfectly suited to a specific environments and one that would work well across a wide range of conditions.
“We’ve realised that Afghanistan is more complex – especially Helmand – than, say Iraq, which was predominantly a desert background or north-west Europe, which was predominantly green. The new camouflage is optimised for all the Afghan background colour sets and in doing so we never reach a point – which we did with the old colours – where it is actually wrong. It may not be quite perfect, but its good enough for everything.”
The adoption of the new pattern follows trials in the UK, Cyprus, Kenya and Afghanistan.
While all recent talk has been about Helicopers, Aircraft Carriers and the like, it is nice to know that the MOD are at least trying to sort out the smaller – but equally inportant – things too.
To see a video about the new Camouflage, click here.
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