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.]

ARPAT™
United States of America

After years of study and the deployment of thousands of prototype uniforms in Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S. Army recently unveiled a new uniform, dubbed the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). Wrinkle-free and produced with its own distinctive digital camouflage pattern, which is officially designated ARPAT™, the ACU is set to become the standard issue for all deployed troops by April 2005.

Widely, albeit mistakenly, known as ACUPAT, ARPAT™ is an adaptation of the digital MARPAT™ print used by the United States Marine Corps. ARPAT™, however, is a three-colour camouflage pattern, distinguished by the conspicuous absence of black.

When questioned about the elimination of black from the design, Sgt 1st Class Jeff Myhre, the Clothing and Individual Equipment noncommissioned officer in charge, stated that black is no longer useful in camouflage because it is not commonly found in nature. Sgt Myhre added that black immediately catches the eye.

This claim is disputed by Guy Cramer, of Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp., who personally has designed more than 200 distinct digital patterns for government and defense contractors. Mr Cramer agrees that black is not a naturally occurring colour, but observes that it is a colour that is perceived as depth. In his analysis, New digital U.S. Army Combat Uniform eliminates black in pattern, Mr Cramer continues, to say that, while experimenting with greys in place of black, his design team noticed a critical loss in depth of their patterns.

Example provided by Damien Ewin.

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