One of the very popular methods of car tuning today is painting it in camouflage. Military style motifs are becoming more and more relevant in design solutions for various trends, apparently due to the fact that it fully reflects the modern pulse of life. If you look at it, camouflage on a car can serve two opposing purposes. On a hunter's or fisherman's car, this is a means of camouflaging vehicles in the wild. In a peaceful city, such a color is a way to stand out, attract attention, and show your style and worldview. Cars in camouflage look stern and brutal, arousing respect and admiration.
Custom car painting - camouflage
Like any other pattern, camouflage may well carry an aesthetic meaning or be a purely functional means of camouflage. Depending on the assigned tasks and types of terrain, various types of camouflage can be applied to the vehicle - they will be discussed below.
Geometric camouflage
The geometric (or chopped) look was created in order not so much to hide the object, but to break its silhouette into sections with chopped geometric shapes different shapes and sizes. Being painted in this way, the car is very difficult to visual assessment in terms of actual size and shape. Typically the colors used here are white, gray and black.
Originally created for military purposes, this pattern is very popular among designers today. By adding areas with an unexpected color, for example, blue, pink or purple, you can create very aesthetically interesting car coloring options.
Geometric camouflage on cars Pixel art
Pixel (or digital) camouflage is visually similar to the arrangement of pixels on a computer monitor. It is also called “destructive” - it blurs the silhouette of the car, hiding its movement on the ground. When it comes to camouflage, there are special instructions that determine the ratio of spots of different colors. The colors themselves are determined based on the area in which the object operates.
Pixel art can be used in urban areas, in mountains or deserts, as well as in some types of forests. For rocky mountains and urban areas, gray-white and black are used.
Sand-colored spots are appropriate in the desert, that's obvious. For forest areas, green with brown, black colors are chosen.
Pixel art on a car Forest view
The most common pattern among those who camouflage a car for functional purposes is forest. The dominant color here is green and its different shades. Brown and black colors are added to it. The forest pattern uses flowing lines and soft transitions to blend seamlessly with the forest foliage.
Those who use this design for purely aesthetic purposes can make it in any colors: acidic, purple, pink, etc. It all depends on taste and flight of fancy.
Car camouflage painting - forest look Winter drawing
It is quite natural that there are types of camouflage for a car in snowy winter conditions. Here the predominant color is white, to which are added gray-blue stains. The winter version can be made both in the form of smooth lines and transitions, and in a “chopped” design.
Sometimes black can be added to a winter pattern - smooth dark spots and lines dilute the white and mask well if the snow cover is not solid.
As a rule, this variety has a purely practical value - few people choose it for the aesthetics of the car and self-expression. Most often it is in demand among hunters living in the northern regions of the country. Sometimes white camouflage is used by those who like to hunt in winter, and who are not too lazy to change the appearance of their car for this purpose.
Winter camouflage Hunting civilian camouflage
Varieties of patterns have been developed for hunters that have nothing to do with the military style. This is a solid foliage background of green or gray-yellow color. This option looks very stylish on jeeps - it seems like it was created just for them. There are pattern options that imitate the jungle, coniferous and deciduous forests, grass of the steppes and savannas.
This color looks very stylish and is both an excellent means of camouflage and a stylish design solution for car styling.
Car painting - “hunting” camouflage Desert Storm
One of the very common varieties is the desert pattern. The dominant color here is yellow and various variations on its theme. Simulates a sandy surface. These can be smooth transitions, lines and a digital pixel version.
This pattern is quite often used in regions where there are sandy deserts. You can decorate your car in a style that makes it feel harmonious in the context of the surrounding landscape.
Desert Storm car camouflage Type of varnish
Two types of varnish can be used to varnish camouflage vehicles:
- with a glossy effect;
- with a matte effect.
If camouflage color interests you in a practical sense, then glossy varnish is definitely not suitable. The shine of the body in no way contributes to effective camouflage. Therefore, if you are a hunter, fisherman or military man, do not hesitate to use only a matte finish for your car.
If you are interested in a design effect, rely on your taste. It all depends on your preferences and tastes. Both glossy shine and matte restraint are allowed. But if you want to create the image of a brutal adventurer, then you should still give up glossy varnish.
Conclusion
Camouflaging a car can pursue different, sometimes completely opposite, goals. This may be the desire to camouflage a car while hunting a wild animal, for example. Or, conversely, the desire to stand out from the crowd, to look cool and stylish.
There are many varieties and variations of camouflage patterns. They are created for different conditions, landscapes and produce different visual representations.
When choosing the type of pattern for styling your car, first of all, decide what goals you are pursuing. And only after that decide to choose one or another pattern.
General principles. Russian camouflages
Supplying almost everyone modern armies there is uniform intended for use directly on the battlefield - field uniform. Most armies in the world have this uniform in camouflage coloring. This material provides an overview of the main camouflage colors currently used in various armies of the world.
It should also be noted that this material does not discuss the cut of uniforms, the quality characteristics of the fabric, and similar issues. The subject of consideration is exclusively the texture and color scheme used in camouflage.
Let me make a reservation right away that the material does not cover everything, but only the main and most common camouflages; also the topic of camouflages of the 1940s and earlier camouflages (of which there were quite a lot) is not disclosed; The topic of special (for example, urban, “hunting” or winter) colors is also not touched upon, since it is not possible to cover this entire volume within one material in the format of an article.
Basics of Camouflage Pattern Construction
Camouflage, or camouflage coloring, serves the purpose of camouflaging the object on which it is applied. In this case, camouflage means reducing the contrast visibility of an object in the optical range in order to make it difficult to identify the object.
To achieve this goal camouflage has two functions:
1. Deforming The function of camouflage is to violate the integrity of the perception of an object.
2. Imitation The function of camouflage is to ensure that the object is inseparable from the background.
The deforming function is implemented in modern camouflages primarily by breaking the silhouette of an object into a number of contrasting color spots. Imitation is implemented through the use of a color scheme similar to that characteristic of the area where it is intended to be used camouflage, and in an optimal form - due to the imitation of natural objects (leaves, grass, sections of tree bark, stones, etc.) characteristic of a given area.
Illustration of the operation of the camouflage simulation function. Hunting camouflage
Illustration of the action of the deforming function of camouflage. Camouflage A-Tax
The difficulty of creating effective camouflage is that when implementing the first function, it is optimal to use large color spots (they break up the silhouette better, since they do not “merge” into a single color at medium and long distances), and when implementing the second function, it is optimal to use image of static natural objects on a scale of 1:1, that is, as a rule, small leaves, grass stems, etc. Thus, a contradiction is created, which various developers solve different ways. For example, in “hunting” types of camouflages, the deforming function is completely sacrificed to the imitation function - usually “hunting” camouflages represent a full-scale image of those natural objects where hunting is expected. In the Russian “Gorka” (its classic version), on the contrary, the imitation function is expressed much weaker than the deforming one: the imitation function consists only of the use of appropriate colors, while the deforming one is implemented in the form of the use of large-area overlay elements.
A few words about the colors of camouflage schemes. There are two general requirements to the colors used in creating camouflages:
1. The color must match the dominant/frequently occurring color in the area where the camouflage is intended to be used.
2. The color should be “unpleasant” to the human eye; the gaze should not intuitively stop at an object of that color.
That is why camouflage colors usually use dull, faded light brown, moderate gray and dark green colors; at the same time, for example, the light green color, although common in nature, is poorly suited for use in camouflage due to its brightness. The most commonly used colors in camouflage are: khaki , olive, marsh, dark and light brown, grey , black .
Brief history of the issue
Before the advent of mass-produced hand-held firearms that were effective over significant distances, the task of visually concealing one’s troops was less relevant than the opposite task - good visibility of one’s troops for a military leader. Due to the extremely limited means of tactical communication (in fact, there were no other means of communication except messengers), it was vital for the commander to observe the disposition and maneuver of his own troops, which is why it seemed advisable for these troops to use bright uniforms that were visible at a considerable distance. Often these uniforms had the colors of the national flags in one combination or another, and also differed in color among different units. The task of camouflaging individual soldiers was not highly relevant, because the main type of combat remained hand-to-hand; fire contact took place at an insignificant distance, at which the enemy soldier was visible regardless of the color of his uniform. In addition, the use of linear tactics and linear battalion formation of the infantry made the use of any camouflage clothing absolutely pointless (it is difficult not to notice a dense line of 50 soldiers along the front at shotgun range, even if they were dressed in the most effective camouflage ).
However, even in an era of dominance smoothbore weapons and linear tactics camouflage nevertheless, it was used by individual units, primarily by the rangers. Tactics rangers was somewhat similar to the tactics of modern infantry units (loose formation, use of natural shelters), and their weapons (rifled fittings with an effective range of up to 200-250 m.) made it possible to fire beyond the reach of enemy line infantry fire - but at the same time in the event of a linear attack The enemy infantry (and even more so the cavalry) and rangers were doomed. In addition, the rangers were vulnerable to fire from the same rangers from the “other” side. That is why it was among the rangers that the first developments appeared, designed to reduce the visual visibility of the shooter - one might say, the first camouflage. In all European armies, chasseurs, unlike line infantry, wore black, dark green and dark gray uniforms, and their hats did not have decorations or clearly visible emblems. Suvorov's instructions are widely known, instructing rangers to use plucked tree branches with leaves to enhance camouflage - a technique that works well in our time.
The situation with uniforms changed when, in the middle of the 19th century, rapid-fire rifled models began to enter service en masse. small arms, increasing the range of fire contact several times. It is generally accepted that the British were the first to move from the concept of a bright uniform to the concept of visual invisibility of a soldier during the Anglo-Boer War, because The bright red uniforms of the British were an excellent target for the Boer riflemen (who wore civilian clothes in dull “Protestant” shades). It was then that the British adopted a uniform of the color " khaki » (« khaki" translated from Hindi means "dusty-earthy"), and seriously reduced the visibility of their soldiers. However, this version hardly withstands factual criticism, because dark green uniforms without decorations appeared in the army of the Russian Empire as a field uniform 10 years before the British encountered the Boers.
However, most European armies changed into uniforms of “protective” shades precisely in the second half of the 19th century and precisely taking into account the English experience. Research has been conducted in several countries to determine the most suitable and versatile camouflage color. The results, however, were different: Russia, England and Japan dressed the soldiers in khaki , France and Austria-Hungary - in sky blue, and Germany- in dark gray. These countries took part in the First World War in such uniforms.
At the same time, during the First World War, the first spotted camouflage modern type. It became the German “splintered” camouflage", so named because of the broken lines that delimit the color spots. Initially camouflage this one was used only on helmets, and they were not fabric ones covers, but just paint applied to metal helmet .
Further development camouflage received during the Second World War, and this time in its modern form - as the coloring of a field uniform. Initially, only samples were produced camouflaged special form, i.e. camouflage suits and capes; however, by 1944, regular camouflage uniforms also appeared. Largest quantity Variants of camouflage during WWII appeared in the USSR and Germany, and in the USSR they emphasized the use of special sniper raincoats and camouflage overalls, and in Germany - directly on the uniforms of military personnel (mainly camouflage uniforms in Germany were worn by units of SS field units).
The main development of the camouflage colors of the field uniform was already in post-war years, especially from the 1970s to the present. It is modern camouflages that will become the main subject of consideration in this article.
Modern camouflages of Russia
In this material, modern Russian camouflages mean not only those samples that are in production and supplied to the Armed Forces and other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation, but also those that are actively used by military personnel and employees of other law enforcement agencies. Among these camouflages, technically there are camouflages created back in the USSR - within the framework of this material they are classified as “ Russia" Foreign-designed camouflages, also actively used by Russian security forces, are discussed in sections dedicated to the relevant countries.
KZS/Coloring-57
Historically, the first modern camouflage can be called a color scheme that has several names, the most common of which is “ GLC" It should be noted that GLC stands for " costume protective mesh”, and is not the name of the color, but the name of the product painted in this color. It is believed that the official name of the camouflage is “pattern 1957 pattern.” “However, this name is used quite rarely. Sometimes this color is unofficially called “Birch”, but such a name cannot serve as a unique name, because "Beryozka" is also informally called another camouflage- VSR-93. Also, this coloring is sometimes called “border camouflage”, because... For a long time it was supplied exclusively to the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR.
Color arr. 1957 ( GLC), "Silver Leaf" variant
This coloring exists in two variants while maintaining the same textural scheme: in one of the variants the small spots have a gray-silver color, in the other (it was he who was supplied to the border troops) - sand or khaki. The background color of both options is olive, sometimes there are specimens of marsh color. In any case, the background in this color scheme is always darker than the spots. The spots themselves have an “angular” structure, consisting of many squares.
It should be noted that this color scheme, although considered by some experts to be “morally outdated,” performs both functions quite well - deforming and imitation.
Fighter in GLC on the ground
"Bhutan"
The camouflage developed in the USSR in the 1980s as the main pattern for field uniforms. Despite the production of a significant number of products from it, it was not particularly widespread among the troops, although it was quite effective. Currently found in VKS RF and in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (in Ukraine for a long time it was the main camouflage), however, in both cases it is actively being removed from supply, being replaced by other models.
Camouflage"Butane"
Other names for this camouflage are “Dubok” and “Amoeba”, and “Amoeba” is also the name of one of the camouflages from the Second World War. The colors themselves can vary, only the scheme remains unchanged: a light green background, dark green spots and light brown amoeba-shaped intersecting ribbons.
In the 1990s, in many parts of the Russian Armed Forces there was a situation where officers wore “Butan” and private and non-commissioned officers - VSR-93, so in the 1990s this camouflage sometimes called "officer's".
VSR-93
Developed in the early 1990s, accepted into service in 1993, replacing the ubiquitous "Afghan" color khaki. When creating this camouflage, the experience of WWII camouflages, in particular, a number of German camouflages, was taken into account.
VSR-93
Quite often unofficially called “Beryozka”, just like GLC. It was believed that the semi-official name of the VSR-93 was “Barvikha”, but this name does not appear in official documents. Also sometimes called "Watermelon" (or "Vertical Watermelon"), however "Watermelon" also applies to the VSR-98.
According to reviews of those wearing a uniform of this color, it is “very good to lie in”, because longitudinal spots very effectively imitate grass vegetation. Nevertheless, camouflage, according to experts, has too highly specialized “sharpening” and is not universal and applicable to any terrain. In addition, there is information that this type of color “created an unsightly appearance for military personnel at parades,” so in 1998, products of this color were removed from supply.
VSR-98 "Flora"
Accepted for supply to the RF Armed Forces as the main one in 1998, it replaced the VSR-93. When developing this camouflage, the results of a study of the dynamic efficiency of camouflage were taken into account, that is, the ability of camouflage not to lose its functions when an object moves. According to the study, horizontal stripes help maintain camouflage functions when an object moves, while vertical stripes, on the contrary, unmask when moving.
Unlike previous camouflages, VSR-98 has not only a digital code, but also official name- “Flora”, however, unofficially, like VSR-93, it was called “Watermelon” or “Horizontal Watermelon” in the army.
VSR-98 "Flora"
There is a "Flora" color scheme in which the background is not light green, but dark yellow, sand or khaki. Such color schemes were popular in the troops of the North Caucasian Federal District, where the grass burns out already in June and, accordingly, everything summer retains a yellowish tint. Officially, "Flora" was withdrawn from supply in 2009 (according to other sources, in 2011), giving way to a more modern color scheme.
EMR/ZDU/Ruspat/Russian figure/Russian pixel
The camouflage appeared in 2008 (accepted for supply a year later), after a fundamental decision was made to change “Flora”. It was initially assumed that since "Flora" roughly corresponds to the American "Woodland", which in the Armed Forces USA is actively changing to “digital” camouflages (see below), then the RF Armed Forces must keep up with this process. To create EMR German was actively influenced camouflage“Flektarn”, the developers of which managed to “combine the incompatible”: small spots that perform an imitation function are combined in this color scheme so that they form groups of large spots that perform a deforming function. The developers followed the same path. EMR, taking into account the results of studies that have shown the effectiveness of extremely small (“pixel”) spots as constituent elements of a texture pattern (see derivatives of “Marpat”). The result was " EMR ».
EMR in two colors
The name "EMP" stands for "Unified Camouflage Color" - this is the name given to this camouflage is responsible for supplying the RF Armed Forces. However, it is known that the first manufacturer of products with this color gave it the name “ZDU” - “protection to the limit.” In the West this camouflage known as “Ruspat” (Russian Pattern) by analogy with American -pats. Also unofficially given camouflage called "Russian number", "Russian pixel" or (in military usage) - simply "Pixel".
Currently, EMR is the main camouflage used by the Russian Armed Forces. Interestingly, it is also supplied to the Belarusian Armed Forces, but it is believed that the Belarusian version of the EMR has a slightly different color scheme.
"Undergrowth"
Created in the early 1990s at the St. Petersburg NPO Spetsmaterialy as an alternative to the VSR-93 for adoption for supply Ministry of Internal Affairs. When creating it, the same principles were followed as in VSR-93, however, the vertical stripes were made more angular, brown color replaced with black, and the base is made lighter than in VSR-93. When creating “Undergrowth”, it was taken into account that vertical stripes visually increase the height of a person in such camouflage, which is relevant for Ministry of Internal Affairs, because an employee in such a uniform has an additional psychological impact on detainees.
"Undergrowth"
Officially in supply Ministry of Internal Affairs, was actively used by various units of the Special Forces.
"Raster undergrowth" / "Raster"
It was created by the same NPO “Special Materials”. Represents the first “dual-frequency” camouflage pattern camouflage. The fact is that the original “Undergrowth” had a good imitation, but rather weak deforming effect, and therefore, when creating its improved version (“Rastra”), it was as if a twisted brown mesh network was superimposed on the original “Undergrowth” in a special way - it turned out to be a “double camouflage" or " camouflage on camouflage."
"Raster undergrowth"
As a result, the original drawing of the “Undergrowth” is perceived by the eye as if at one frequency, and the superimposed “raster” network - at another, which contributes to the impossibility of intuitive perception of a person in such camouflage as an integral object. There is even a common rumor that if you just walk down the street in “Rastra”, you will not attract anyone’s attention - the gaze of passers-by will simply slide past. This discovery by Spetsmaterialov specialists was subsequently used by the Americans to create a series of Kryptek camouflages, but more on that below.
Another name for “Rastra” is “Pheasant”, but it is used for products produced in this color not directly by NPO Spetsmaterialy, but by other manufacturers. Raster camouflage also officially in supply Ministry of Internal Affairs. For some unknown reason, however, it was not widely used.
"Tiger" / "Reed"
Strictly speaking, this camouflage, although it is produced in the Russian Federation on an industrial scale by various companies and, moreover, is widely used in various law enforcement agencies, it is not a Russian development - it is rather an “adaptation” of existing foreign camouflage (originally the Malaysian commercial Tiger Stripe) to Russian conditions.
Camouflage"Tiger" one of the Russian variants
The color scheme, traditionally for Russian camouflages, can be changed by turning the light green base into sand or khaki .
If the "Tiger" was the result of a deliberate reworking of the existing foreign analogue, then “Kamysh” appeared due to an accident when the manufacturer mistakenly sewed the uniform so that the stripes of the “Tiger” turned out to be vertically located. However, the classic “Tiger” is often called “Kamysh”.
Officially it was never in supply, unofficially it is used by all law enforcement agencies, although now its popularity is falling due to the advent of more effective colors.
"Partisan"
Commercial camouflage, not officially on supply anywhere. Unofficially, it is very popular, especially in the North Caucasus Federal District, where its yellow-brown deforming stripes are very relevant against the backdrop of grass that has been scorched for most of the warm season. Created under the influence of German camouflages from WWII (almost exactly copies one of them), that is why it is called “Partisan” - because, as far as we know, initially its creators, without particularly “bothering” with coming up with a name, planned to call it “ camouflage SS".
Camouflage"Partisan"
In the European part of Russia this camouflage very effective in August-September. The rest of the time it has an excellent deforming, but controversial imitation function.
"Kink" / "Skol"
Another commercial one camouflage, unofficially not in supply, but very actively used in various law enforcement agencies. It is known that a number of units (not units, but units) of the Special Forces, both army and explosives, prefer the uniform of this particular color.
Camouflage"Kink"
When creating "Kink" it was used, as in the case EMR, "Flektarn" experience. It is interesting that “Kink” has such a specific location and color combination of spots that it creates the illusion of three-dimensionality of smooth fabric, and, accordingly, has a very good deformation effect. Unlike most Russian camouflages, “Izlom” does not allow the use of colors other than the original ones.
As with Partizan, it is believed that this camouflage effective mainly in August and September.
Surpat
Developed by the Russian company “Survival Corps” by order of employees of special forces units. It is an adaptation of the American “pattern” scheme to Russian conditions.
Surpat
Unlike the original (American “pattern” camouflages), Surpat uses light gray as a base; the location of the spots has been changed; brown And green the colors are as close as possible to the color scheme characteristic of the Russian landscape. Despite this, it is distinguished by significant versatility in relation to terrain - tests conducted by Survival Corps itself showed Surpat’s performance in almost any natural area.
Official information on the use of Surpat in any units of the Armed Forces and Ministry of Internal Affairs There is no Russian Federation, but sometimes on documentary materials you can see military personnel in this camouflage.
Range
Another adaptation of “patterns” to Russian conditions. It has slightly less versatility compared to Surpat, however, in comparison with it, it has a slightly better imitation effect in forest landscape conditions.
Range
There is also a “Spectrum-SKFO” version, where the color scheme is adjusted towards “yellowness”. Unlike Surpat, it is widely produced by several manufacturers. It is interesting that it was “Spectrum” that was personally used by I. Strelkov and his unit.
Dusk
Initially created as a hunting, exclusively commercial camouflage. Like most hunting camouflages, it was intended for very narrow conditions: rocky surface with moss, morning and evening time of day. However, it unexpectedly turned out that this camouflage It performs quite well in a much wider range of conditions than those for which it was created, which is why it has become very widespread.
Dusk
It is not officially employed anywhere in the supply chain, but is unofficially used by some departments and individual employees. Russian companies also produce a wide range of Western-designed camouflages, but they will be discussed in the sections of the countries where they were created.
Camouflages of the Anglo-Saxon nations
Modern camouflages USA and Canada
The history of the mass introduction of camouflages into the US Armed Forces began, unlike the USSR, not during WWII, but during the Vietnam War.
Before the Vietnam War camouflage used only by the Corps Marine Corps The USA (which is considered a separate branch of the military), and not on a massive scale. It was camouflage developed during WWII, with a texture similar to modern Australian camouflage (see below). The main part of the US Armed Forces in the Korean and early Vietnam Wars wore olive-colored field uniforms.
During combat operations in the jungles of Vietnam, it became clear that a plain uniform did not provide a sufficient level of camouflage for soldiers. The military were the first to try to solve this problem. special units- they purchased at their own expense camouflage Philippine-made Tiger Stripe (which the Filipinos themselves created based on the French Lizard, taking into account local specifics).
Philippine commercial camouflage Tiger Stripes
Officially given camouflage was not in supply to the US Armed Forces, it is exclusively commercial camouflage, used by military personnel on their own initiative.
However, the problem remained, and the Americans were forced to develop their own camouflage. The first truly widespread American camouflage pattern was Woodland.
Woodland
The camouflage was originally developed for action in the jungle, but then the principle of color variability was applied to it, and it became universal. For a long time it was the main camouflage of the US Armed Forces and was actively exported. Its production was mastered in a huge number of countries that produced it original version, and adapted options. Even in Russia there is an adapted version of the Woodland, called “Les”, although it is not in supply anywhere, but was actively used in the 1990s.
Woodland most common color option
At the moment, Woodland has already been withdrawn from supply in the US Armed Forces (remaining only in the National Guard), but its wide distribution in the 1980s contributed to the fact that this moment Woodland is considered the most used camouflage in the world.
Officially, it supplies supplies to a huge number of countries, especially in Latin America. With some minor changes, it exists as the main camouflage in Spain and Syria.
Cadpat
Actually, this is not American, but Canadian camouflage, however, it is classified in the “USA” category, because it became the founder of almost the entire line of second-generation American camouflages.
The Canadian Army, like the American Army, wore an olive uniform for a long time, and only in the early 1990s did it start thinking about its own camouflage. They created what is called "Kadpat" - from the words " Canada" and "Pattern" (in this case - "color").
Kadpat
The simulation function is implemented at a very high level in Kadpat. Canadians developed this camouflage taking into account the Canadian landscape conditions - the predominance of mixed and coniferous forests - which is why its color scheme, being “narrowly tailored”, is ideal for Canada. As for the implementation of the deforming function, the Canadians used the experience... of the USSR, and by analogy with GLC They did not make spots of smoothly rounded shapes, but used many small square elements. The fact is that square elements, despite the lack of correspondence in living nature, work very well “in motion” - better than elements of smooth shapes. As a result, naturally, we couldn’t sit on two chairs (Kadpat doesn’t reach GLC according to the deforming function - the spots are too small), but at least they tried.
After the Canadian Army accepted the new camouflage pattern for supply, the Americans decided to keep up. The first to think about changing camouflage, as usual, were the USMC (Marines), since, in fact, they fight more often and generally need it more. Realizing that Canadians camouflage good, but it will be somehow strange if Americans wear a non-American design, the American Marines created their own version of camouflage, taking Kadpat as a basis. The result was Marpat.
Marpat
When asked by the Canadians not to spend money on developing a bicycle, but simply to buy from the Canadians either uniform kits or a patent for the Kadpat, the Americans replied: “You have camouflage narrowly tailored to Canada, but we need a more universal one,” and developed Marpat.
Marpat.
In principle, Marpat is indeed more versatile than Kadpat. In the sense that for him, Marpat, on any theater of operations it is equally difficult to find landscape conditions in which the simulation function will be 100% implemented.
However, in the new colors, the USMC soldiers looked cooler than the soldiers of other branches of the military in Woodland, which made the rest of the Pentagon feel offended. It was decided to transfer all aircraft to the new uniform USA, for which the development of a new pattern was ordered.
ACUpat (Akupat)
Very conveniently, at the same time, the Americans were transferring the ground forces to a new uniform - instead of the one worn since Vietnam BDU they invented a pretty good looking ACU. The question arose about how this ACU color. Another proposal from the Canadians was rejected, the Marines were told “and you are in your BDU and keep going,” and development of a new color pattern began.
When developing Akupat, the Americans proceeded from the following circumstances:
1. The main theater of operations in one way or another in the near future is the Near and Middle East.
2. Try now to find a non-urbanized area - there are solid buildings everywhere.
3. The battlefield is always dust and smoke.
4. The Wehrmacht had a beautiful "Feldgrau" color, personally designed by Hugo Boss.
5. Black color does not occur in nature (this is a REAL statement by the creators of Akupat).
The result is what Americans quite seriously consider to be a universal color scheme. Well, at least they thought then. In any case, the members of the commission who approved the acceptance of Akupat.
Akupat
I must say that in urban areas in the Middle East, in conditions of smoke and dust, Akupat works oh so well.
Akupat in natural environment a habitat
But in a European forest...
Akupat in an unnatural habitat for him, but natural for a European theater of war
In general, there is something we don’t understand about universality, apparently.
Multicam (Multicam )
American military personnel, however, also did not understand something about the versatility of Akupat. The fact is that they had to operate in Iraq and Afghanistan not only in a deserted and at the same time urbanized area, as the developers of Akupat assumed, but also (most often) against the backdrop of something green. Apparently, the Americans (receivers of Akupat) did not realize that the main fighting are carried out in densely populated areas, and desert theater itself becomes much less common. And in densely populated areas green the color still prevails. Yes and Iraq- this is mostly steppe, not desert. There is also plenty of greenery in Afghanistan. In short, the American military personnel expressed a friendly “fi” to Akupata within a very short time after he was accepted for supply. But military personnel are forced people, but PMCs are not so much so. It was with the PMCs that the “screw your Akupat” movement began. The PMCs quickly remembered about camouflage, developed simultaneously with Akupat, but with much better versatility - Multicam.
Multicam
Multicam interesting in several ways. Firstly, he uses as many as 6 colors and up to 10 transitional shades of these colors, and these transitional shades are formed by “diffusion” of color spots. Secondly, Multicam has not one, but THREE background colors, and they are quite dim, and their spots are blurry. Non-background colors have spots with clearly defined boundaries, and as a result, these spots are perceived as being at a different distance than the background ones (due to the fact that the eye perceives clearer objects as being in focus, and less clear ones as being out of focus, which, in turn, leads to the illusion of a difference in the distance to these objects), which creates the illusion of empty space (in range) between them. This illusion of empty space performs a deforming function somewhat more effectively than large breaking spots, which, in combination with a dim background of natural shades (performing an imitation function), ultimately creates one of the most effective camouflages of our time.
Multicam on the ground
Multicam turned out to be so effective, and for almost any type of terrain, that at present it is second only to Woodland in terms of prevalence. Multicam worn by security forces in literally all countries. In the Russian Federation, for example, it is preferred by special forces FSB. In Ukraine, everyone who has enough money for it and the common sense not to wear Flektarn is wearing it (more on that later). In England, based on it, they developed their own Multicam. And only in the United States is it... not officially in supply, although half of the armed forces switched to it on their own initiative.
A-Tacs (A-Tacs)
In those legendary times when the Americans accepted uniforms for supply ACU, they announced a competition for the best camouflage. The result is known - Akupat, but initially future (not created at that time) camouflage It was called “Scorpio”, and even Nostradamus didn’t know what it would look like (however, the developers of Akupat knew, who “brought it” to the right place in time). Accordingly, the development of a new camouflage was called "Scorpio Theme". It turned out that the topic is long-lasting - already in ACU everyone got dressed, and Akupat was officially received, and Multicam has become the most common in the world, and the development of Scorpio is still ongoing.
In addition to Akupat and Multicam, several more camouflages are vying for the title of “Scorpio”, one of which is A-Tax.
A-Tax
A-Tax appeared a little later than Akupat and Multicam, but within the framework of the same “Scorpio Theme”. The A-Tax developers proceeded from the same principles as the Multicam developers, but took into account two facts:
1. Multicam It comes in only one color range, which the customer may not like (who learned the word “versatility” and got burned by Akupat).
2. Old washed KZSka model 1957. in terms of deformation function it is much steeper than the multi-billion-dollar Akupat model of 2011, which cost-consumed-for-its-development.
Crossed Multicam(with its 3D effect) with KZSka, and subsequently washing the resulting product to further blur the background spots, the American developers received A-Tax. The soldier in A-Tax looks like a blur against the background of horizontal burdock-shaped leaves, so both functions are implemented there with a bang.
A-Tax in mugs. The imitation and deforming action is implemented at a very high level
A-Tax exists in several colors, reflecting different types of landscape ( forest , desert , city ).
Currently, Americans are scratching their skulls wondering whether they should replace the Akupat with the A-Tax as the officially accepted one for supply. Making a decision regarding this is hampered by two circumstances: firstly, the hope that one of the developers will still think of lobbying for their interests at least in the same amount as the developer of Akupata; and secondly, the presence in nature of an even more interesting camouflage - Cryptek.
Kryptek(Cryptek)
The soldier in the multicam looks like a dirty gray-brown blur at an incomprehensible distance. The soldier in the A-Tax looks like something barely visible at the edge of peripheral vision in mugs. The soldier in Akupat looks like an army soldier USA, whose silhouette is clearly visible on most landscape backgrounds; In addition, the light gray color is an ideal background for an aiming marker (“crosshairs” in common parlance). But the terrible and terrible Russians have a terrible and terrible “Raster”.
It was these considerations that guided a group of enthusiasts, consisting of American veterans of the database in Iraq and Afghanistan, who decided to create their own camouflage, and perhaps put him up as a nominee for Scorpio.
Continuing the tradition of the creators of A-Tax - crossing existing camouflages, the developers of Kryptek crossed the American Multicam with the Russian Raster, developing an international hybrid. From Multicam it has a background blur, making it difficult to accurately determine the distance and creating the effect of “empty space”, from Raster it is twisted net, and it is twisted in all three directions (as in Raster), which also creates a 3D effect. Also, the developers of Kryptek decided that camouflage should be not only effective, but also spectacular, and they made the mesh not in a boring brown color, like NPO Spetsmaterialy, but in the form of reptile scales. It turned out really cool.
Cryptek in all its diversity
Like the developers of A-Tax, the Cryptek people did not bother with excessive versatility, but simply developed 6 color versions: forest (Mandrake), steppe-desert (Nomad), demi-season mountain (Highlander), urban (Urban), winter(Yeti) and night (Typhoon).
Interestingly, the Kryptek people initially stated that their camouflage primarily intended not for law enforcement agencies, but for hunters; however, they then changed their minds.
Mountain version of Kryptek on the ground
Since Kryptek is objectively perhaps the most effective camouflage to date (the most effective - for sure), it has already had imitations and analogues. In particular, the Chinese made their own version of Kryptek (there is an opinion that they simply did not want to buy the Kryptek license, but wanted to set up production), but the Chinese version turned out somewhat worse - it does not have as much blurriness background, A net has smaller cells and occupies a larger area compared to the original.
Currently, the Pentagon, like Buridan’s donkey, is rushing between Multicam, A-Tax and Kryptek in search of an optimal replacement for Akupat.
Modern UK camouflages
After WWII, like the Americans, the British army wore a plain olive uniform, but even during WWII their special forces ( SAS and paratroopers) wore separate camouflage elements of uniforms. That camouflage was the prototype for the camouflage pattern known as DPM.
DPM
When developing camouflage, the British proceeded from the common sense that the battlefield is not exactly the same landscape as it was on this field before the battle. On landscape elements, you know, a certain aesthetic effect is exerted by hot gases, fragments, shock waves, flying bullets and shells, and other human activity and its products.
Taking these features into account, the DPM was developed. However, it turned out that the PDM shows very good results even in areas that are pristine in relation to the impact of BD.
DPM
DPM stands for Disruptive Pattern Material. There are also urban and desert variants of CSA.
The first truly mass-produced army, rather than narrowly tailored special forces, versions of the PDM were adopted to supply the British Armed Forces in 1966. Since then, DPM has changed the color scheme (or rather, shades) several times, but the texture remains the same. Each new version of the DPM was assigned a digital index according to the year it was accepted for supply - there are DPM-66, DPM-68, etc. The most recent version of the CSA was developed in 1995.
DPM turned out to be quite effective for its time (it was believed that it was much superior to Woodland), so it became quite widespread not only in England and other countries British Commonwealth, but also throughout the world (although not as widespread as Woodland). There are a significant number of DPM clones; in Russia, an analogue of the DPM called “Smog” or “Kukla” is produced.
Russian-made CSA ("Smog") on the ground
Currently, the CSA is being withdrawn from supply in the UK Armed Forces, but remains in Ireland and a number of military units Netherlands.
MTP (MTP)
The history of the creation of the ICC, which replaced the DPM, is very simple.
The British really wanted Multicam, but wearing your younger brother’s clothes is somehow un-English. Developers from Albion scratched their turnips and crossed Multicam with local DPM, and the result was called Multi-Terrain pattern. In fact, don't name it Multicam with elongated “near background” spots a la PDM Multicam.
MTP. Find 10 differences from Multicam - and receive a prize from the UK Ministry of Defense
Currently, the MTP officially supplies the British Armed Forces. In this, the British outdid the Americans, who still have not officially accepted Multicam .
Pencott(Pencott)
Camouflage"Pencott" was developed by Hyde Definition in 2009. The history of creation is similar to the history of the creation of Kryptek - in fact, camouflage created by enthusiasts, and not by a special defense research institute.
Pencott is a "hybrid" camouflage, combining positive sides smooth-spotted and pixelated colors. There are no black elements in this camouflage. The imitation function is implemented by the color and size of the spots, the deforming function is implemented by a pattern with 3D imitation and grouping of spots.
Pencott
In the picture of this camouflage you can see strong impact German schemes from WWII, even visually Pencott resembles the Russian “Partizan”, which was absolutely created on the German experience.
Like most modern camouflages, Pencott comes in several color variations.
Pencott color options
It is not in supply anywhere, it is a commercial camouflage.
Modern camouflage Australia
Australian military personnel routinely participate in combat operations conducted by various international contingents, where they play a leading role USA. On their territory, the Australians fought only against kangaroos, aborigines and swarming poisonous spiders. However, the history of the creation of Australian camouflage has a somewhat strange logic, taking into account the above.
Auscam
This is not an American Marine camouflage 1940s, this is Auskam
The Australians took the American camouflage, worn by the USMC back in WWII. They then flew around Australia by helicopter, photographing the landscape to identify dominant colors. And then, preserving the old American drawing, they applied the identified colors to it. Considering that the Australian army has never fought on its own territory, this is somewhat strange logic. What happens is what is officially included in the supply.
Camouflages of the armies of the world
Modern camouflages of Germany
From all Western countries Germany has the most experience in creating your own camouflage patterns. Actually, the first camouflage The Germans appeared back in the First World War. In the 1930s, Germany appeared camouflage Splitter (“Fragmentation”) in several modifications, which was actively used during WWII - however, fabric of this color was used mainly for sewing raincoats, tents and special equipment such as parachute jump suits. At the same time, Germany can be considered the birthplace of the camouflage field uniform - it was there that, since 1943, completely camouflage uniforms were adopted for supplying SS field units. Its texture and colors were similar to the modern Russian “Partisan”.
After the end of WWII, several variants of camouflage uniforms were developed in Germany, but until the 1980s, none of them were in service for a significant period of time. At the same time, the GDR developed camouflage“Rain” (Rain), which was used to paint the field uniforms of military personnel of both the GDR army and a number of other armies of the Warsaw Pact (in particular, the armies of the Polish People's Republic and Czechoslovakia). This camouflage was created based on the experience of camouflages of the 1930s, but in the full sense it was not camouflage, representing a gray-olive background with many short vertical brown stripes, creating a picture of falling rain.
It was only in the late 1970s that a successful camouflage variant, Flektarn, was developed in Germany.
Flektarn
The camouflage developed in the 1970s, first demonstrated at joint Franco-German exercises in 1976. However, it was accepted for supply only in 1989.
Flektarn's developers combined the incompatible: they managed to resolve the contradiction between the deforming and imitation functions by combining small (imitation function) spots into large groups of spots (deforming function).
German Flektarn
On the one hand, the developers of Flektarn used the experience of the 1940s - individual elements of Flektarn are reminiscent of German camouflages of that time. On the other hand, Flektarn became a significant step forward in the development of camouflages, because For some reason, no one had thought of such a simple solution to combining functions before Flektarn.
For some time (before the advent of Multicam), Flektarn was considered the most effective of the existing camouflages, and is still included in the unofficial top camouflage textures. At the same time, it is believed that Flektarn is most effective in Western European conditions, and in the conditions of Eastern European coniferous forests and birch groves, its effectiveness (especially in the imitation function) decreases.
Flektarn comes in several colors, notably desert and tropical (the latter called "Tropetarn").
Consists of supplying the Bundeswehr. In addition to Germany, it is very common in Ukraine - both in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and in “volunteer units”. Ukrainians believe that wearing Flektarn emphasizes their Europeanness, which is why they often wear it with Bundeswehr patches (which does not always delight the Germans).
Modern camouflages of France
France, which “distinguished itself” in World War II for its rapid exit from active war, almost immediately after WWII was faced with the need to wage many colonial wars. For this reason, she had to think about increasing the efficiency of her armed forces, and, in particular, about adopting camouflage field uniforms for supplies.
Lizard
First post-war French camouflage, Lizard, was created in the 1950s. Initially, it was equipped with military personnel of special units, but then it became army-wide.
One of the early modifications of Lizard
There are claims that Lizard was created taking into account the experience of German camouflage designers, but I leave this question for the reader to consider (in my opinion, IMHO, there is somehow not enough of German camouflage from WWII in Lizard).
Based on the Lizard, all tiger-colored camouflages were developed, from the famous Philippine Tiger Stripes to the Russian “Tiger”.
Lizard is still supplying the armed forces of a significant number of countries, from Portugal and Greece to Senegal, but in France itself it has been removed from supply, giving way to the CSE. Official Turkish
A very long period in military history not only about military camouflage, but no one even knew about the khaki uniform, no one had heard of it, and no one wanted to think about it. The military uniform then had only one task - identification on the battlefield. The battles took place at close ranges, and more often hand-to-hand, and the ability to immediately determine whether you were an ally or an enemy was a priority. Therefore, the soldiers’ uniforms were colorful bright colors- red, blue, yellow.
With the development of firearms, the battle distance began to increase, and gradually the military leaders came up with an interesting idea - why not camouflage their own forces on the battlefield, making the task more difficult for enemy shooters? That's when camouflage was invented - a military uniform that hides a soldier from the eyes of the enemy. The word “camouflage” refers not only to a multi-colored spotted modern pattern, but also to plain khaki-colored clothing.
According to the chronicles, camouflage was first used in history during the Anglo-Boer War in 1899-1902, when the Boers used colors in their equipment that allowed them to blend into the terrain, while the British in bright red uniforms were almost like targets in a shooting range at the fair. After which the command of the British forces made a historic decision and dressed the soldiers in khaki uniforms.
After which, certain armies of the world began to use protective colors to outfit their soldiers, and then special camouflage patterns (patterns), which hid the soldiers much better than plain clothes. For example, in the Wehrmacht armed forces alone there were more than 30 different camouflage patterns, suitable for all types of terrain and seasons.
In addition to military camouflages (called standard, or army - they were officially adopted into service), by now a great variety of commercial camouflage colors and patterns have appeared, which are produced by private companies for professional shooters, hunters, PMC employees and special forces. Next we will talk about military camouflage.
Conventionally, all military camouflage can be divided into 5 main groups:
- Forest(Europe, North America, Russia).
- Desert(North Africa, partly Asia, Middle East).
- Jungle(South America, southeast Asia).
- Winter(in conditions of snow);
- Bush(created taking into account the characteristics of the territory of South Africa - this group includes only a few types of camouflage).
That is, all camouflage colors existing in the armed forces can be attributed to some of these groups. Some add separate categories “City” and “Miscellaneous” there. The first option is for action in an urban landscape, and the second is for describing camouflages that work on a different principle than traditional camouflage colors.
USSR camouflage
Almost all known uniforms of the USSR were, to one degree or another, copied from the Wehrmacht’s armed models. Of course, there are our own developments, but why reinvent the wheel if a ready-made camouflage pattern has shown its effectiveness in specific conditions. And sometimes it justified itself.
"Amoeba"
The camouflage pattern was developed in 1935 and had several options for different conditions.
"Deciduous Forest"
It was borrowed from the Wehrmacht army in 1942 and only slightly modified. There were two types of this camouflage - for summer and autumn forest.
"Palm"
Also developed in 1944 based on German camouflage patterns. " Palm"was produced in four versions, according to the seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter.
"Birch"
Camouflage "Birch" also known as " sunny bunny" And " silver leaf" Developed in 1957. The basis, as in previous versions, is taken from some highly effective camouflages used in Nazi Germany. Green background, white deforming pattern (closest to modern “Digital Flora”). In 1980 it was modified for deciduous forests of the middle zone ( bottom photo). It is considered somewhat outdated, but the “Beryozka” overalls are still used by airborne forces (due to its convenience, but after a little modification), and is also very popular among hunters, fishermen and various amateurs active rest, incl. airsoft players.
"Butane"
Or " Oak" Developed in 1984 for border troops as a replacement for the outdated Beryozka. It has been used by the Ukrainian armed forces for a long time; now they are trying to replace camouflage with something more modern and effective. Still, a lot has changed since the 80s, and “digital” is gradually replacing all other types.
Camouflage of modern Russian Armed Forces
Here everything is a little more prosaic. If the first camouflage uniforms of the Russian Armed Forces were inherited from the USSR, which, in turn, was inspired by the camouflage patterns of the army of Nazi Germany, then subsequent developments are purely their own, but not particularly original. Although the Russian protective uniform performs the task of camouflage in typical middle zone terrain perfectly.
"Partisan"
Has the unofficial name " frog" Modern camouflage, simply copied at one time from German " Eichentarna».
VSR-93 "Vertical"
Used from 1993 to this day. Mainly in the post-Soviet space. Classic camouflage, various spots of green and brown shades.
VSR-98 "Flora"
Or " Cabbage", or " Watermelon" Developed, as the name implies, in 1998, for some time it was the main camouflage in service with the Russian Army, but has recently been considered obsolete.
Digital flora
Digital flora- one of the latest developments of the RF Armed Forces, it is still being tested. The camouflage properties are excellent, the silhouette breaks up perfectly.
Wehrmacht and Bundeswehr camouflage
In general, the Germans at one time were ahead of everyone else in terms of camouflages - they came up with almost 40 different options - and almost all of them were very effective for their conditions. We will consider only the most famous ones.
WH splintentarn
It is considered almost the first German camouflage uniform, invented back in 1931. Spots with clear edges, different colors, "shading". For its time it was very effective, but then gave way to more advanced options.
Eichentarn
1942 This option was supplied in several colors. Distinctive feature can be called the presence of small but numerous spots. It was used for quite a long time, including in the armed forces of East Germany.
Flectarn
1985 The development of the idea of “eichentarna”, which is noticeable in numerous small spots. Flektarn It is produced in several versions and is used in the Bundeswehr army to this day.
Tropentarn
An analogue of "flektarn" for deserts, developed in the 1990s.
US Camouflage
At one time, the United States was not particularly far behind Germany in the development of camouflage. Currently, the lion's share of companies designing and selling commercial uniforms and camouflage patterns to the world market are located in the United States. However, we are only talking about the “official” military camouflage, so further on we will talk about it.
Khaki
The same legendary " Khaki" Officially, the very first widespread camouflage pattern. The US Armed Forces used " Khaki"in World War II. For combat operations in arid areas and in the desert, this is just the thing. Something similar was used by both the African units of the Third Reich and the US armed forces. It is still the official “military color” in some countries.
Olive
Further development " khaki", adapted to the conditions of the jungle. Cheap and cheerful. Used by the US in Korea and during the Vietnam War. And the Cuban partisans also really liked it. They say, Fidel Castro I almost never parted with a uniform in color " Olive».
Woodland
A well-deserved classic. Woodland developed in the eighties, it was presented in several color options, depending on the specific conditions of the area. The standard is as in the photo, in the version for plains and forests there were more green spots, in the “mountain” version there were brown spots. Well, the fourth option was generally supposed to mask in the optical and infrared range. At the moment, this military camouflage is not used in the US Army, but based Woodland about a dozen uniforms that are successfully used.
3-color Desert / 6-color Desert
Developed based on Woodland, for desert operations of US Army soldiers. 3-color Desert is a pattern of spots of three colors - green and brown in two shades. 6-color Desert - a more complex pattern of spots of as many as six colors.
MARPAT
One of the first successful examples of digital camouflage. In fact, the same “woodland”, only converted into pixels. It was developed to replace the Woodland and was used by the US Marines for a long time ( MARPAT- this is an abbreviation for Marine Pattern), including for combat in urban conditions, since one of the colors was perfect for this purpose. There were three colors in total: standard - Digital Woodland, for deserts and arid conditions - Digital Desert, for urban conditions - Digital Urban.
ACUPAT/UCP
Developed for US Army forces operating on land, based on MARPAT. The pixels have become larger, the color gamut has become even less contrasting. ACUPAT- unofficial name, means Army Combat Uniform Pattern. Officially this military camouflage is called UCP — Universal Camouflage Pattern. Also known as Digicam(Digital Camouflage).
Multicam
The same “Woodland”, only cooler. Actually, it was developed as a modern replacement, but for certain reasons it did not deserve recognition in the army, and the US Armed Forces are practically not used. However, the Multicam camouflage is more than decent - the spots are round, numerous and varied, the pixels are not visible, so the blurring of the silhouette occurs precisely due to the complexity of perception. Therefore, in the commercial sphere, it is the favorite uniform of anyone, including.
Kryptek 3D Camouflage
We simply could not help but talk about this promising 3D camouflage. Company Kryptek proposed a design concept that uses the latest developments in camouflage and optical illusion. The new uniform is currently undergoing field testing and may soon be adopted by the US Army.
Military camouflage of other countries
Next, we will tell you about the most interesting (we do not take into account obvious copies) current military camouflage from other countries of the world. Still, there are no particularly large-scale and popular developments of camouflage patterns, such as in the USA and Russia, not to mention Nazi Germany. Let's start with England, in which, as we have already said, camouflage uniforms were historically first used.
DPM - UK
DPM stands for “Distruptive Pattern Material”, and represents chaotic strokes and spots of four colors - black, brown, green and sand. Camouflage DDPM(Desert DPM) - with other shades, intended, as the name suggests, for the desert. There is also the so-called “Dutch DPM” is essentially the same camouflage, only with different colors, used by the Dutch army. Myself DPM is currently considered obsolete.
MTP - UK
For changing DPM in 2011, the UK Ministry of Defense developed a new military camouflage - Multi-Terrain Pattern, or for short MTP. Based on American Multicam. The new uniform completely replaced the old DPM and DDPM between 2011 and 2013, and could be seen in MTP camouflage in Afghanistan.
Lizzard pattern - France
French development, based on Tiger stripes camouflage, and used by the French Armed Forces from 1947 to 1980. Until recently Lizzard pattern was the official uniform of the French Foreign Legion, which eventually also switched to the CCE Camo.
CCE Camo - France
Modern French camouflage, introduced into service in the early nineties. The camouflage is based on “woodland”, the pattern is made larger. CCE Camo also available in several variants, for example Daguet Desert pattern for the desert (bottom photo) was used by French soldiers in Iraq.
Digital Vegetato - Italy
Digital Vegetato is an abbreviation for Vegetated Pattern, that is, “vegetable pattern” or pattern. There is a spelling of “Vegetata”, as well as - in the professional sphere - a slang name Italian Digital Woodland. Standard camouflage of the Italian Armed Forces, our own development, adopted for service in 2007. The desert camouflage option is called Desertato.
Woodland Desert - Spain
As you can guess from the name, this is a classic Woodland, in which the colors have been changed to take into account the landscape of Spain. Used by the Spanish Marine Corps since 2003.
SDD - Spain
The Spanish Land Army until 2010 was dressed in standard Woodland. However, after 2010, the armed forces adopted a uniform with a camouflage pattern of its own design, called Spanish digital desert (SDD).
M90 - Sweden
Remember when we said that the German “splintentarn” is obsolete? But the Swedes don't think so. They changed the colors a little, removed the shading, made the lines more chaotic - and they are using it with all their might. There are two variants of the M/90 - forest (for the typical Swedish landscape) and desert.
M75 / M98 - Norway
Norwegian Armed Forces use military M75 camouflage And M98- a more modern version. Three colors - brown and green, dark and light shades, in the form of large spots, according to the command, should best hide a soldier in the Norwegian forests.
M84 - Flectarn-D - Denmark
For the Danes, everything is simple - they took their wonderful flektarn from their neighbors, the Germans, and slightly modified it to suit their needs and landscape features, adding more light green. Based M84 Flectarn-D Danish desert camouflage was developed.
M05 - Finland
As a standard uniform, the Finnish Armed Forces use “digital” military camouflage, which meets all modern camouflage requirements. Camouflage M05 was created taking into account the Finnish landscape.
Tiger stripe - Cuba, Philippines
« Tiger", or " Tiger" - one of the most famous camouflages in the world, appeared around the 50s for combat operations in the tropical jungle. A distinctive feature is “strokes” of green, brown and black on a light background – “khaki” or “olive”. However, the strokes do not overlap each other, as in the French Lizard pattern (which is believed to have become the basis for the “Tiger”). It is unknown who exactly came up with the drawing, but it became most widespread among the US Army Special Forces during the Vietnam War, and later spread throughout the world. Currently the uniform has a camouflage pattern. Tiger stripe adopted by the armies of Cuba and. Sometimes variations of the “Tiger” are found on the uniforms of individual units of the Russian Armed Forces.
CADPAT - Canada
Canadian Forces use military camouflage CADPAT(Canadian Disruptive Pattern). There is an opinion that the Canadian drawing is simply one of the MARPAT versions, modified to take into account the prevailing Canadian landscape, but this opinion is erroneous. The Canadians presented the first sample of CADPAT at the exhibition back in 1996, while the Americans only began “developing” MARPAT in 2001.
The remaining options for army camouflage are either exact copies described above, or are so uninteresting, simple and/or rare that they do not deserve attention. Let us remind you once again that we did not consider (well, or almost did not consider) commercial camouflage, among which there are more than excellent options. Maybe someday we’ll put together an article on this topic.
Well, in conclusion...
African armed forces camouflage
Yes, this was considered the official military uniform for some time. Then, fortunately, the Africans stopped showing off and switched to more effective and modern options.
For example, airborne troops Republic of Benin wore the original military camouflage, which was also called “onboard” (top photo). The closest to it is the Norwegian M98 camouflage, on which the inventive Banin people applied lions, buffaloes and animal tracks.
Libyan armed forces camouflage(bottom photo) generally represents repeated images of the continent of Africa. However, the color palette is chosen in such a way that camouflage can work well in an African landscape. There were six such color solutions in total.
Camouflage is one of the types of protection for personnel, equipment and weapons, used to make it difficult for the enemy to recognize various objects visually and using optical-electronic or photographic reconnaissance means. Camouflage is a multicolor (most often 2-4 colors) large or small spotted coloring that distorts the contours of an object due to the merging of the color and shape of individual spots and stripes of color with the surrounding background. A camouflage pattern, as a rule, consists of spots (stripes) of various shapes and sizes, applied at an angle of 30-60° to the visual contours of the object, with their transition from one surface to another.
Below is a list of colors in relation to the “STURM Mil-Tec” catalogue.
USA
1. Woodland
The most common type of camouflage, on the basis of which dozens of “clones” have been created and are still used in the armies of many countries around the world. Developed in the early 80s of the XX century. It is a four-color pattern consisting of light and dark green, brown and black spots. It is a direct descendant of the ERDL camouflage pattern used to a limited extent by American troops during the Vietnam War.
There are four known Woodland color options:
basic (general), also called moderate (temperate);
lowland, characterized by a large number of green shades;
mountain (highland), with a predominance of brown spots;
“intermediate” (transitional), also known as (delta), masking in both the optical and IR ranges.
2. 3-color desert
Based on the Woodland camouflage pattern, it is a pattern consisting of pale green, light and dark brown spots of various shapes and sizes, intersecting each other at various angles. There are known options with predominant brown or green shades. It was actively used by the US Army and Marine Corps in armed conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan before the ACU PAT and MARPAT camouflages replaced it.
3. 6-color desert
Also known as the “chocolate chip”. Used by American troops during Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. It has a lot in common with 3-color desert camouflage, but consists of spots of six colors: pale green, light brown, dark brown, beige, black and white. It is a base applied using wavy spots of the first 4 colors, on which there are small spots of white surrounded by a black outline. Currently practically not used in the US Army. In areas of combat operations, local self-defense and police units friendly to the coalition forces are equipped with similar camouflage.
4. Digital woodland (MARPAT – Marine Pattern)
Camouflage used by the US Marine Corps. The new, so-called digital, camouflage color scheme replaced the legendary Woodland. It consists of small rectangular spots of light brown, black, light and dark green colors, randomly intersecting with each other. As of today, MARPAT is one of the most advanced camouflages in the world. There are three types of MARPAT: Woodland, Desert and Urban.
5. Digital desert
Also known as MARPAT Desert. It is a version of Digital woodland adapted to desert conditions, the color scheme of which excludes green shades.
6. AT-digital (ACU PAT – Army Combat Unoform Pattern)
New universal “digital” color scheme used by the US Army. During its development, the MARPAT color scheme was taken as a basis, from which the “pixels” of black and green colors were excluded. It consists of rectangular spots of light, medium and dark gray colors intersecting with each other. It is used by ground forces in all theaters of operations, be it wooded, mountainous or desert terrain.
7. Khaki
Without exaggeration, it is the most iconic “protective” color of military uniforms, which was the progenitor of all future generations of uniforms. The name comes from the Persian word, pronounced “khaki,” meaning dust (dirt). In Europe, this term appeared thanks to British soldiers returning from colonial India. At the end of the 19th century, as a field uniform, many armies of the world, which until then had only brightly colored uniforms, began to switch to khaki uniforms in order to ensure greater secrecy for their troops. In particular, the British Army received new uniforms in 1897 and successfully used them during the Boer War of 1899-1902. The US Army switched to khaki uniforms during the Spanish-American War in 1898. In the 20th century, khaki uniforms were used as field or casual or even dress uniforms in almost all countries of the world. These days, despite the widespread use various types modern camouflage, khaki is still widely used in armies and security forces on all continents of the globe.
8. Olive (Olive Green)
In contrast, khaki is a darker color, a mixture of green and dull brown. Widely used by the US Army during World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Currently, it is mainly used as a basis for applying further camouflage. It is used in the production of various items of uniform and equipment: protective helmets, belts, pouches, etc.
9.Black
Used primarily by Special Forces (SOF) units during nighttime operations.
10. Navy (Navy Blue)
Originally known as marine blue. Officially used in the navies of many countries around the world. It is a solid dark blue color. In 1748 it was first used in the Royal Navy of Great Britain, as a trendsetter in maritime fashion of those times. Subsequently it was adopted by the fleets of other countries.
11.Snow camo
Used in areas with cold (arctic) climates. It is a white base with rare spots of light brown and medium brown shades with blurred edges applied to it.
12. WH splintertarn (Splittermuster)
In 1931, the German army received the first camouflage piece of equipment - the Zeltbahn raincoat with the Splittermuster 31 pattern (splintered, model 1931).
The camouflage pattern is a light brown background with angular, different-sized spots of green and dark brown colors applied to it, reminiscent of scattered shards of broken bottle glass. The overall picture is dominated by brown spots. Almost the entire design is covered with “rain” - thin short strokes of green, from which only a few sections of the fabric remain free.
Depending on the year of manufacture and shades of color, the Wehrmacht distinguished six main types of camouflage:
Splittermuster A (splintered, model 1931)
Splittermuster B (splintered, model 1941)
Splittermuster C (splintered, model 1943)
Splittermuster D (splintered, model 1944)
Sumpfmuster A (swamp, model 1943)
Sumpfmuster B (swamp, model 1944)
13. WH eichentarn (SS – Eichenlaubmuster)
Known as the “oak leaf”. One of many types of camouflage created in the Third Reich for the Waffen-SS.
There were two types of such camouflage: six-color (black, burgundy, light green and dark green spots on a light/dark brown background) SS-Beringt-Eichenlaubmuster (model 1942) and, in fact, five-color (black, light green and dark green spots on a light brown background SS-Eichenlaubmuster (sample 1943).Each of the species was subdivided, in turn, into a spring-summer version with a predominance of green and an autumn-winter version with a predominance of brown shades.
14. NVA strichtarn (Strichtarnmuster)
Camouflage used by the GDR army from 1965 to 1990. It is the most simplified version of the German Splittermuster camouflage of the Second World War period, from the pattern of which “splintered” spots of brown and green colors are completely excluded. It is a khaki base with brown vertical strokes applied to it. Because of its characteristic appearance it is known as “rain”.
15. NVA Flachentarn (Blumentarn)
The so-called “floral” camouflage. In the late 1950s, it replaced the Ameobatarn camouflage pattern, which was used to a limited extent in the East German army. Used in the army and the Ministry of the Interior of the GDR until 1967, after which it was replaced by Strichtarn camouflage. It has a certain resemblance to the camouflage used in the Soviet Army at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War. It is a dirty gray base with spots of brown, light and dark green applied to it.
16. BW flecktarn
At the end of the 80s of the last century, the German army received a new type of camouflage uniform. The coloration, called flecktarn, consisted of many overlapping small spots of black, brown, light and dark green. Depending on the area where the uniform is planned to be used, the camouflage colors also differed. There are known examples of flecktarn camouflage with a predominance of both green and black-brown shades.
17. BW tropentarn
Since the 1990s, it has been used by the Bundeswehr when conducting combat operations in desert areas. It consists of small spots of green and brown colors applied to a beige base. Visually reminiscent of flecktarn, on the basis of which it was created, but looks much lighter.
Others
18. DPM (Disruptive Pattern Material)
It is the main type of camouflage of the British armed forces and is partially used in various countries of the world, such as Jordan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Portugal, etc.
It is a combination of spots and “strokes” of sand, green, brown and black colors. The ancestor of DPM camouflage was the so-called “Denison jacket”, used by British paratroopers and marines during the Second World War.
In the 60s of the 20th century, the first samples of DPM camouflage were developed. Nowadays, several variants of this camouflage are known: P60 DPM, P68 DPM, P84 DPM, P94 DPM and P95 DPM, differing from each other only in the saturation of shades of a particular color and the size and shape of the spots. There is also a known version of the DPM camouflage with an IRR coating applied to it, which can significantly reduce the likelihood of detection of personnel using night vision devices.
19. DPM desert
There are two variants of DPM desert camouflage. Used by the army of the United Kingdom when conducting combat operations in desert areas. The camouflage pattern unmistakably resembles traditional DPM, but consists of two colors (brown or pink spots on a sand-colored base), which is due to the presence in the armies of a number of countries in the Middle East (in particular Iraq) of camouflage of a similar pattern in a four-color design.
20. CCE camo (Camouflage Central European)
The camouflage of the French army appeared in the 90s of the last century. As the name suggests, it is intended for use in areas Central Europe. Visually resembles the Woodland camouflage pattern. Consists of relatively large green, light and dark brown spots intersecting with “strokes” of black.
21. BGS camo (Sumpftarnmuster)
The type of camouflage developed for the Wehrmacht in 1943 had much in common with the Splittermuster camouflage already in use at that time. It consisted of reddish-brown and green angular spots applied to a khaki-colored base. Just like in the Splittermuster camouflage, most of the area of the pattern was covered with “rain” - thin short strokes of green. The main difference between this camouflage and its predecessors was the “blurred” boundaries of the spots, which was achieved by applying areas along their perimeter consisting of many adjacent dots. The camouflage acquired its “second life” and the name BGS after the organization of the BundesGrenzSchutzes - the Federal Border Guard of Germany in March 1951, whose personnel received camouflage uniforms made in the Sumpftarnmuster style. During the use of BGS camo from the 50s to the end of the 90s of the 20th century, three versions were produced, differing from each other only in the saturation of shades. At various times it was used to a limited extent by the security forces of Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Libya and other countries.
22. Red camo
A “commercial” type of camouflage consisting of Woodland-style patches of white, gray, black and burgundy (sometimes red) colors. There are known camouflages of similar patterns and colors used in the fire and rescue service of Malaysia (black, gray, red) and armored units of Oman (gray, red-brown, light green and black) made in the style of the British DPM.
23.US pacific
Camouflage used during World War II by the US Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater. It is a khaki base coated with spots of green, light and dark brown. Camouflage fabric was made with a pattern on both sides, characterized by a predominance of either green or light brown shades, which made it possible to use its protective properties both when landing on the beach and when further moving deeper into the jungle.
Work on the introduction of camouflage uniforms began in the United States back in 1940, but it became widespread in 1942, when the Pacific theater of operations immediately required 150,000 sets for amphibious operations. An attempt to use this camouflage pattern in the European Theater of Operations in 1944 was unsuccessful due to its slight similarity to the camouflage used in the Waffen-SS, which repeatedly led to losses from “friendly fire.”
24. Tiger stripe
Definition of a whole group of camouflages that got their name due to their obvious similarity with the tiger skin pattern. Camouflages of this type are intended for use mainly in tropical jungle conditions. It is a combination of wide stripes-“strokes” of black and olive colors with smaller brown and khaki “strokes”. It is not known for certain who was the author of the dozens of Tiger stripe camouflage options; either the French in Vietnam or the British in Burma, but it is absolutely obvious that it was successfully used and is still used to this day in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region (Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, etc.).
" is a spotted or pixelated camouflage color used to reduce visibility in environment clothes of people, equipment, weapons and other objects due to blurring and breaking the silhouette of an object or person. Camouflage is designed and used to make it difficult for the enemy to recognize the outlines of a person or equipment on the ground when using visual, photo, or optoelectronic detection methods.
The coloring of camouflage, as a rule, is a multicolor (2-4 colors) spotted pattern or design (large or small spots of various colors), blurring and distorting the outlines of the fighter.
For the first time in the world, camouflage appeared in the “Khaki” coloring during the Boer War (1899-1902) - this war fought for the independence of the Transvaal from England. The British at that time wore red uniforms, which is why they suffered heavy losses compared to the Boers, who knew how to use the terrain around them for camouflage. As a result, the British army was dressed in a marsh-colored uniform (“khaki”). Then camouflage began to be actively used various armies and during the Second World War, Germany had about 30 different camouflage colors in service, some of them later migrated to the Soviet army (example: “birch” camouflage, which is used and modernized to this day.
Since the Cold War, camouflage has been divided into five large groups:
- “Forest” - “Woodland” - used mainly in Europe and America;
- “Desert” - “Desert” - used in North Africa and Central Asia:
- “Jungle” (tropical) - “Tropical Uniform” - used in Southeast Asia, South America;
- “Winter” is actually the winter camouflage itself, in which white colors predominate.
- “Bush” - “Bush” - used in Southern Africa, there are very few types of this camouflage, due to the limited terrain and countries.
Since the 1960s, the development of types of camouflage began to occur at a rapid pace and currently there are a huge number of types and colors of camouflage, ranging from military to commercial options. But at the same time, it is necessary to understand that there is no universal camouflage in principle; therefore, each color was created and designed to work only in environmental conditions and seasons specific to it.
There are several types of colors and names of camouflage types:
Army camouflage (Army camouflage used by the military of different countries);
Commercial camouflage (Commercial camouflage - those color variations that have not entered service with army units for some reason, and are currently produced by certain companies (factories) exclusively for independent military units and fans of hunting or tactical games. Also for commercial types camouflage can be attributed to variations of existing army colors, from which additional colors were excluded, or, conversely, added).
Army camouflage of the Armed Forces of Russia and the USSR:
Digital Russian camouflage (Digital flora):
New pixel camouflage for the Russian Armed Forces.
VSR-98 Flora (Armed Forces of Russia-98 Flora):
It has been the main Russian combined arms camouflage since 1998 (based on the official designation). Camouflage "Flora" camouflages a person very well in central Russia. Because of its characteristic stripes, Flora was nicknamed “watermelon” camouflage. Available in three variations.
VSR-93 (Armed Forces of Russia-93):
He is also a “vertical”. Russian camouflage 1993 model.
Butane (Oak):
Aka “Dubok” This camouflage was developed in 1984. This pattern breaks up the silhouette of a person well at various distances against the background of vegetation.
Silver leaf 1957):
Camouflage “Silver leaf”, also known as “Birch” and “sunbeams”, as well as “border guard camouflage”. Camouflage with a deforming pattern, model 1957. Great for camouflage deciduous forests central Russia.
Camouflage with a deforming pattern, model 1944. Produced in four variations: spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Russian camouflage issued in 1942. Produced in two variations: summer, autumn.
Amoeba:
Camouflage issued in 1935. Produced in several versions.
Commercial Russian camouflage:
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