kamouflage.net camouflage data

Uncover your potential', indeed! Once you stop ogling the girl, though, you might notice that this Australian Special Air Service (SAS) recruiting poster shows Australian Disruptive Pattern Camouflage to very good effect. [Image courtesy Brad Turner collection.]

U.S. 'urban' camouflage
United States of America

Camouflage for urban areas presents challenges that differ dramatically from those posed by woodland or desert terrains. For example, the tactical ranges involved in urban fighting are, in most cases, significantly closer. Also, urban environments have more straight edges, with lots of horizontal and vertical lines, and their specific characteristics vary widely from location to location, throughout the world.

A single camouflage uniform that can satisfactorily meet all of these challenges is yet to be developed. So, contrary to popular belief, neither the U.S. Army nor the U.S. Marine Corps has ever fielded an official urban camouflage uniform — which is not to say that there has not been a lot of improvisation.

The so-called U.S. 'urban' camouflage pattern, which emerged around 1990, is probably the best known of these ad hoc solutions. Used by U.S. special forces teams on urban assignment and police SWAT teams, it is essentially a modi­ficat­ion of the four-colour U.S. woodland camouflage pattern that was originally designed for use in woodland environments, in extreme cold weather. Although the black whorls were retained, green was replaced with grey-green, brown was replaced with slate grey, and the tan background became white.

Its lack of official status notwithstanding, U.S. 'urban' camouflage has inspired a multitude of similarly-coloured official camouflage uniforms, around the world. Popularised by bands such as East 17, in the mid-1990s, it also became a common fashion item.

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