05 August 2014 by Oscar Nkala - defenceWeb

The Nigerian Army says the service will soon get a new camouflage which will make the troops look 'smarter' and more distinguishable from impostors following recent incidents in which civilians and Boko Haram militant group members were arrested for committing crimes while wearing security services camouflage attire.

All three wings of the Nigerian Defence Forces - army, navy and air force - have over the past few years been caught up in extortion and bribery scams in which tricksters in full military fatigues posed as recruiting officers and were paid millions by would-be soldiers.

The defence and police services have also suffered battlefield casualties to Boko Haram militants who attacked them while wearing camouflage attire identical to theirs.

Addressing soldiers of the 149 Battalion at its Ojo Cantonment in Lagos, Chief of Nigerian Army Staff Lieutenant General Kenneth Minimah said all officers will soon be outfitted with new sets of uniforms which the defence ministry hopes will differentiate them from impostors. Minimah said the army will now produce the uniforms.

“The Nigerian Army has decided to change the camouflage uniform of the service. We have also decided to make it ourselves so that it will have a uniform look. We will not allow anybody to make them for us. They are currently being made at the Nigerian Army Tailoring Department at Yaba, Lagos State. It will make us look smarter and better,” he said.

Previously, all security services attire and camouflage was tailored by private companies contracted by the respective ministries. Criminal groups including armed carjackers and bank robbers took advantage of the relatively easy access to security services attire and often wear fatigues belonging to the army, navy, air force, police, immigration and other public inspectorate services while committing crimes.

The change of uniform comes against a backdrop of rising incidents in which small military units have been wiped out by Boko Haram militants wearing identical uniforms and driving vehicles painted in services camouflage in war-zones in the restive north.

Minimah warned disgruntled soldiers against using social networks to spread “falsehoods” about alleged dire conditions in the service and information about military equipment and operations in the three war-torn northern states.

“One trend that is also dangerous to the service we all seem to cherish is the misuse of the social media. I urge you to be careful of social media. Some of you like to use Facebook, Twitter and others to report the Army as if you are not a member.

"What you do not know is you are undoing a system you are part of. You can twit on social issues. Do not twit about our locations, equipment, weapons and ammunition. I hope you did not come in to undo the system," he said.

The warning follows revelations from disgruntled soldiers who have taken to social media to voice their frustrations in a dossier of complaints which includes the army's use of poor and defective equipment, lack of reliable re-supply lines, long-duration non-payment of salaries, lack of motivation and lack of operational and force protection vehicles among the reasons for high casualties as the army appears to be losing the war against Boko Haram in the north.

The defence ministry has also threatened to prosecute all officers involved in spreading the information, which the government views as damaging to the local credibility and international standing of the Nigerian Army.

Aujourd'hui, l'armée américaine compte 10 types différents de camouflages, à motifs pixellisés ou à "rayures de tigre", à dominante verte, brune, voire bleue. Pour le Pentagone, cette source de multiplication des dépenses est inopportune en période de disette budgétaire.

21.11.2013 Le Monde.fr (AFP)

Conçus pour se fondre dans l'environnement, les camouflages d'uniforme sont devenus un moyen pour chaque service de l'armée américaine de se distinguer des autres, une coquetterie jugée bien coûteuse par le Congrès qui veut mettre fin à la gabegie.

Avant 2001, la situation était simple : tout le monde avait le même camouflage, à dominante verte pour les pays tempérés, couleur sable pour les zones désertiques. Mais à la faveur d'un budget en constante augmentation, marins, soldats, aviateurs et marines en ont profité pour afficher leurs particularisme au moment où le pays s'engageait dans deux conflits, en Afghanistan et en Irak. Aujourd'hui, l'armée américaine compte 10 types différents de camouflage, à motifs pixellisés ou à "rayures de tigre", à dominante verte, brune, voire bleue.

CAMOUFLAGE PIXELLISÉ

"Cela fait partie de l'esprit de corps. Après le 11-Septembre, les gens ont même commencé à porter leur uniforme camouflé au Pentagone", explique Larry Korb, du Center for American Progress. Un moyen pour ces militaires employés dans des bureaux de montrer qu'ils étaient eux aussi "sur le pied de guerre". Les marines, corps d'élite prompt à faire valoir sa différence, a été le premier à se distinguer dès 2002 avec un nouveau camouflage décliné en deux tons.

Hors des zones de combat, ordre est donné début novembre aux marines dans le monde entier de passer à la collection automne-hiver et de porter la version "terrain boisé" à dominante vert-brun. Début mars, la version sable fait son retour dans les rangs. Propriétaire de la licence, le corps interdit même aux autres services d'utiliser son uniforme et fait imprimer son logo lors de la fabrication du tissu pour s'en assurer. Au grand dam du Sénat, qui dans son projet de loi de financement de la défense pour 2014, actuellement en discussions, a inclus un amendement prévoyant "qu'aucun service n'interdit à un autre service d'utiliser un camouflage d'uniforme".

Le camouflage pixellisé de l'armée de terre, introduit en 2005, devait lui servir aussi bien dans les zones tempérées que désertiques. Mais il est vite apparu qu'il ne camouflait pas suffisamment, conduisant l'US Army à aller chercher en 2010 auprès d'une société privée un nouveau camouflage pour équiper ses soldats déployés en Afghanistan.

"DÉPASSEMENTS DE COÛTS"

Le reste de l'US Army, toujours équipé du camouflage pixellisé à dominante vert pâle et sable, a engagé des recherches pour trouver un nouveau camouflage. Le remplacement de l'uniforme actuel pourrait coûter 4 milliards de dollars sur cinq ans, pronostique un rapport du Government Accountability Office (le GAO), la cour des comptes américaine.

L'Air Force s'est elle aussi lancée en 2002 dans la recherche d'un nouveau type de camouflage pour aboutir cinq ans et 3,1 millions de dollars plus tard à un dessin dit à "rayures de tigre" aujourd'hui jugé totalement inefficace.

Quant à l'US Navy, c'est par un camouflage de bleu et de gris qu'elle s'est distinguée. L'habit n'est pas jugé assez résistant au feu, mais les mauvaises langues ironisent surtout sur le fait que le meilleur camouflage est celui qu'il apporte à un homme tombé à la mer...

Pour le Pentagone, cette source de multiplication des dépenses est inopportune en période de disette budgétaire. "Cela n'a rien à voir avec les dépassements de coûts du F-35 – qui se chiffrent en dizaines de milliards de dollars –, mais c'est quelque chose que toute personne normale considérerait comme de l'argent gaspillé", concède Larry Korb. Sénateurs comme élus de la Chambre des représentants veulent donc y mettre un terme.

Le projet de loi de financement présenté à la Chambre prévoit le retour à un uniforme commun le 1er octobre 2018. "Nous ne pouvons nous permettre d'avoir différents motifs de camouflage simplement pour marquer l'esprit de corps" de chaque service, dénonce l'élu démocrate William Enyart à l'origine de cet amendement. Le patron des marines, le général James Amos, a de son côté d'ores et déjà tonné devant les troupes qu'il n'avait "aucune intention de changer d'uniforme" et qu'il s'y accrocherait "comme un clochard à son sandwich".

11 September 2013, Saab Press Release

Defence and security company Saab has been awarded a contract for Multispectral Static Camouflage Nets from Canadian Department of National Defence (DND). The order amounts to MSEK 54 with the right to exercise several options with for potential additional orders of MSEK 44 over 5 years.

“Saab has an unrivalled leading position in the world within Signature Management technology. We continue to attract and retain new and existing customers around the globe,” says Anders Wiman, Managing Director for Saab Barracuda

Saab Barracuda’s advanced Camouflage technology products have been exported to more than 50 countries. Saab offers a unique package of camouflage systems and force protection solutions with the purpose to decrease the enemy’s ability to detect and engage. These solutions protect camps, vehicles and personnel against hostile sensors and enemy target acquisition.

Saab serves the global market with world-leading products, services and solutions ranging from military defence to civil security. Saab has operations and employees on all continents and constantly develops, adopts and improves new technology to meet customers’ changing needs.

June 4, 2013 by Think Defence

Did we discuss this, not sure?

From Akzo Nobel

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) asked AkzoNobel – makers of paints and coatings such as Intergard, Sikkens and Dulux – to develop a high-tech paint with a colour that would be suitable for the desert environments where most military operations are focused.

The new camouflage paint – known as Army Brown – will replace the sand colour that has been used on Army vehicles since before the Second World War.

To produce the new colour the MoD collected high resolution imagery in Afghanistan and flew rock and soil samples back  to Britain, where  a team at the Government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory developed a colour optimised for vehicles operating in that environment.

AkzoNobel scientists were then asked to develop a new water-based camouflage coating that conformed with the colour requirements. Developed under the Intergard brand the new Army Brown paint is similar to the tan colour used by the military in the US and Australia. It is designed to provide a better balance between arid, desert-like areas and the green zone with its lush vegetation.

AkzoNobel has developed a special temporary peelable coating which can be quickly sprayed or brushed onto the Army vehicles to provide a quick camouflage change and then peeled off. The revolutionary coating is capable of absorbing chemical warfare agents and stopping them getting through to the vehicle underneath. The contaminated coating can then be stripped off and disposed off. It also protects the vehicles against weathering and corrosion.

AkzoNobel scientists are currently working on further developments which would mean the coating would change colour when it absorbed toxic chemicals, alerting the soldiers that they are under chemical attack. Rather than just absorbing the chemicals it would also be able to neutralise them.

Army Brown is being used on the UK’s Foxhound light patrol vehicles. Army Brown has also been applied to some of the Warrior tracked armoured vehicles deployed to Afghanistan.

The Intergard coating has been developed by AkzoNobel’s aerospace coatings team. AkzoNobel’s Global Market Director Andrew Richardson said:

““We were delighted to be asked to work on the new colour for British Army vehicles and continue our partnership with the Ministry of Defence.
“The new paint colour has been specifically designed for the desert-like environment where most operations currently take place.
“The water-based paint will provide an exceptional performance in the most challenging environments.”

• Even the paint is going hi tech, interesting about the peelable nature of it and the level of protection against chemical agents.