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German CIMIC soldier handing a gift to an Afghan boy. The soldier wears the Steppentarn camouflage pattern, which was introduced during the 1993 UN intervention in Somalia. It is a three-colour pattern based up five-colour Flecktarn. [Image: NATO.]

Bundeswehr-Steppentarn
Federal Republic of Germany

In 1955, when the Bundeswehr was formed, camouflage uniforms were still too closely associated with the Waffen-SS for the authorities' peace of mind. Thus, while Zeltbahnen (shelter quarters) camouflaged in the old Heeres-Splittermuster 31 ('army splinter pattern '31') continued to be widely used, only Bundesgrenzschutz ('Federal Border Guard') units were issued with camouflaged clothing. The larger part of the Bundeswehr was issued a solid olive drab uniform.

By the 1970s, however, the advantages of camouflaged field uniforms could no longer be ignored; and so, the Flecktarn ('spot camouflage') was introduced, for general distribution.

Likewise in 1993, when the Federal Republic of Germany contributed military personnel to UNOSOM I, the Bundeswehr recognised the need for a arid regions camouflage pattern. Steppentarn ('steppe camouflage') was developed, to meet this need.

Steppentarn is essentially the same design as Flecktarn, in which the number of colours has been reduced from five to three. In Steppentarn, medium green replaces the black found in Flecktarn, brown replaces rust-red, and sand replaces dark green, grey green and light green. The earlier versions of this pattern — like the example shown here — are greyish, while the newer examples have a reddish cast.

Steppentarn seems to have been the inspiration for Danish T/99 desert camouflage.

Steppentarn is sometimes called Wüstentarn ('desert camouflage') or Tropentarn ('rain forest camouflage'), in English-speaking sources. The first misidentification appears to have arisen from the fact that Steppentarn has been deployed in desert environments, while the second is is a complete misnomer: Tropentarn is simply a variant of Flecktarn produced on a light-weight fabric, more suitable for wear in tropical climates.

kamouflage.net is grateful to Henrik Clausen, Jörg Herzer and Ralph Marschner, for their invaluable contributions to this article.

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