kamouflage.net camouflage data

A Russian sharpshooter, atop an armoured personnel carrier, in Chechnya. He wears a winter-weight uniform, camouflaged in the Russian Dubok (Russian: 'little oak') pattern, and, to judge by his helmet, belongs to an MVD unit. [Image: militaryphotos.net.]

1990 3-TsV camouflage, mountain/desert colouration
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Soviet military designers experimented with new camouflage patterns for the Armed Forces of the USSR (Вооруженные силы Союуза Советских Социалилистических Республи, trans. Vooruzhenyye sily Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, VS SSSR). The change to a new camouflage uniform is believed to have been motivated, at least in part, by a desire to provide the Russian military with a more unified and professional image. However, the confusion of Russian ground units with the opposing security forces of regions like the Baltic States and Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic doubtless also highlighted the need for change.

The new uniforms were first authorised for wear in mid-1991, at which time the Soviet Union was still a political entity; for this reason, the series of camouflage patterns should properly be classified as Soviet. However, the uniforms were not widely issued until 1994, for which reason the pattern is better known, among collectors, as 'VSR' (from Вооруженные силы России, trans. Vooruzhenyye sily Rossii, meaning 'Armed Forces of Russia').

Russian soldiers, on the other hand, frequently referred to the camouflage pattern as 'dubok' (Russian: «дубок», meaning 'little oak').

As with the 1988 3-Ts camouflage pattern, the 1990 3-Ts camouflage pattern was produced in a wide range of colour combinations. This variety is usually attributed to accident and a general lack of standardisation throughout the Russian textile industry. However, author Dennis Desmond, in Camouflage Uniforms of the Soviet Union and Russia, 1937 to the Present, has argued that the different colour schemes were intentional. Only time shall tell whether this were also true for 1990 3-Ts.

The version of 1990 3-Ts depicted on this page comprises rough, elongated black-green and red-brown blotches, vertically-aligned on a khaki background. The black-green splotches are larger, and surround the red-brown streaks. Desmond has identified this as a desert and/or mountain colour scheme.

Although collectors frequently refer to the 1990 3-Ts camouflage pattern as 'Schofield', there is absolutely no truth to the widespread belief that this is its official name. Dennis Desmond explicitly states, in his book, that he created the name because he first saw the pattern in a photo of Carey Schofield, which was displayed inside the back cover of her 1991 book, Inside the Soviet Army.

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