Disruptive Pattern Material - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) is the commonly used name of a camouflage

Camouflage

Camouflage is a method of concealment that allows an otherwise visible animal, military vehicle, or other object to remain unnoticed, by blending with its environment. Examples include a leopard's spotted coat, the battledress of a modern soldier and a leaf-mimic butterfly...

pattern used by British forces as well many other armies worldwide, particularly in former British colonies.

Amongst the countries that use or have used DPM at any time include Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Brunei

Brunei

Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...

, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

, Gambia, Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, Lebanon

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

, Malaysia, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Oman

Oman

Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Taiwan

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, Srpska, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

, Swaziland

Swaziland

Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...

, Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

, the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

(Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

(in UK-supplied NBC suits) & Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

), and Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

.

The main variants are a four-colour woodland pattern and desert patterns in two, three or four colours.
DPM has also been produced in black/white/grey, in various blue tones and even in purples, (the latter for the Swazi Royal Guard.)

History

The British army had used a form of DPM for the famous Denison smock

Denison smock

The Denison smock was a coverall jacket issued to Special Operations Executive agents, the Parachute Regiment, the Glider Pilot Regiment, Air Landing Regiments, and other Commonwealth airborne units, to wear over their Battle Dress uniform during the Second World War.The smock was initially worn...

issued to parachute and commando troops from the early 1940s. The first examples of this design were said to be hand-painted. The Denison smock design went through minor changes, and continued in use with the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...

and the Parachute Regiment (until the mid - late 1970s).

1960 Pattern

From 1960, the British Army had been issued with the 1960 Pattern field-uniform range to replace the Second World War-era khaki

Khaki

This article is about the fabric. For the color, see Khaki . Kaki, another name for the persimmon, is often misspelled "Khaki".Khaki is a type of fabric or the color of such fabric...

Battledress

Battledress, or fatigues in the general sense, is the type of uniform used as combat uniforms, as opposed to 'display' dress or formal uniform worn at parades and functions. It may be either monochrome or in a camouflage pattern...

. This consisted of a Smock, combat; Trousers, combat; a Hood, attached to the Smock by the two epaulette buttons and a third concealed under the collar; and for exceptionally cold conditions, a Parka. These resemble a US Army design, and were made from a tightly woven cotton fabric in plain olive green.

The first, limited, use of DPM

A new British DPM was developed in the early 1960s, using the four basic western European temperate colours of black, dark brown, mid-green and a dark sand to make a very effective camouflage that has survived in its basic design, with no more than slight changes to the colours and pattern, until current times.

This design was probably used first on a very small scale for a hooded Smock, Windproof, 1963 Pattern, issued only to special forces.

In 1966 the Army introduced for the first time, though not universally, a camouflage field uniform. Known informally as the 1966 Pattern, it was in fact identical in design to the 1960 Pattern kit, though of course now made in DPM fabric. It is labelled, like the earlier plain olive green version, Smock, combat, 1960 Pattern and Trousers, combat, 1960 Pattern.

The 1966 DPM range did not completely replace the plain olive green 1960 Pattern Smock and Trousers, which continued to be worn widely until the 1968 DPM kit was issued. Both The Royal Marines

Royal Marines

and the Parachute Regiment continued to wear the Trousers, combat 1960 Pattern with the Denison smock

Denison smock

, and examples of these trousers were made even after 1968. These units eventually stopped issuing the Denison smock (in mid - late 1970s) and adopted smocks in the general-issue DPM while still for a time wearing the plain olive 1960 Pattern Trousers.

The 1968 Pattern range - the first general use of DPM

Before the 1966 Pattern equipment had reached all units a slightly revised design of Smock, combat and Trousers, combat were introduced as the 1968 Pattern range. The 1966 Pattern DPM fabric design was changed very little for the 1968 issue, and it seems that the 1968 Pattern garments were made for some time in the two very similar DPM fabrics. A Hood, combat, DPM, made of DPM cotton fabric and with a plain olive green lining, was also included in the range, fastened as required to the back of the Smock with the two epaulette buttons and a third under the collar.

In this the British army was the first to adopt a camouflage uniform universally.

For the Royal Marines

Royal Marines

, which had a responsibility for NATO's northern flank, a Smock, Windproof, Arctic and Trousers, Windproof, Arctic were introduced c1972. These were made in a lightweight but windproof DPM fabric, and could be worn over quilted jacket and trousers in extreme cold conditions. The design of both smock and trousers differ radically from both the standard and para designs. The smock is long and loose-fitting, and incorporates a voluminous wired-rim hood, while the trousers have zips in the lower leg to allow them to be put on over boots.

In the mid 1970s a new Smock Parachutist DPM

Smock Parachutist DPM

The Smock, Parachutist DPM, known simply as the Para Smock, was the replacement for the Denison Smock used by the British Army's Parachute Regiment and parachute-trained troops. It was introduced in the mid 1970s, after the British Army's universal adoption of DPM field clothing...

(Para smock) was introduced for the Parachute Regiment and other airborne units. Though made in the 1968 Pattern cotton fabric, its design was closer to that of its predecessor, the Denison smock.

At the same time a Smock, Sniper, was introduced, based heavily on the Smock Parachutist DPM

Smock Parachutist DPM

and sharing many of its details. It was distinguished by its padded elbows and shoulders, relocated lower pockets, multiple loops for securing natural camouflage material and hooks for the rifle sling.

During the late 1970s, batches of the 68 pattern camouflage were used by the USAF Police Tactical Neutralisation Teams at RAF Upper Heyford as a temporary stand-in for the ERDL/M81 Woodland fatigues.

Later developments

The pattern was changed slightly with subsequent issues. The 1984 Pattern has fewer dots and the brown is much darker; 1990 and later has a band of new shapes and is smaller; 1994 has an orangey colour instead of a tan.

DPM items in the Combat Soldier 95 (CS95) clothing system have similar colours to the 1966 uniform.

Although slight changes have been made to DPM and the colours, the pattern is easy to recognise. There are also jungle versions of DPM where the colours are brighter, and on one variation the tan is darker than the green. A desert variant was first issued on a limited basis in the late 1980s. This appeared very similar but consisted of subdued sand and khaki hues. This was replaced by a two-colour version by 1990 because four-colour versions had been adopted by some Middle Eastern countries, notably Iraq.

From 1990 a system of Personal Load Carrying Equipment

Personal Load Carrying Equipment

Personal Load Carrying Equipment is the current tactical webbing system of the British Army. It consists of a belt, yoke and a number of pouches. Associated with PLCE webbing is a series of other similar load carrying equipment and rucksacks .The purpose of PLCE is to hold everything a soldier...

(PLCE) has been used, initially produced in olive green. The olive type was quickly replaced in production by a DPM version, and now almost all British issue webbing and rucksacks are DPM.

Current issued DPM equipment is IRR (Infra-red Reflective) coated. This coating has a specific reflective wavelength in order to blend in with natural colours in the infra-red light spectrum. This reduces the visibility of soldiers to night vision devices, which detect infra-red light, as trees and other green plants reflect deep red and infra-red light (the Wood Effect

Infrared photography

In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is referred to as near-infrared to distinguish it from far-infrared, which is the domain of thermal imaging. Wavelengths used for photography range from about 700 nm to about...

).

As part of the British Government's Personal Equipment and Common Operational Clothing (PECOC) programme, three new DPM versions were trialled. A modified temperate camouflage using slightly lighter tones to increase versatility, a three-tone desert camouflage with a new darker colour making it more effective against night-vision devices, and an all-new "hybrid" DPM using two colours from each of the former. The hybrid pattern was intended for use on webbing in both temperate and desert environments. Following the issue of an Urgent Operational Requirement for a more effective camouflage for Afghanistan, the hybrid pattern lost out to the Multi-Terrain Pattern which was adopted.

Replacement - Multi-Terrain Pattern

Multi-Terrain Pattern is a camouflage pattern which will replace the four colour woodland uniform known as DPM and the desert pattern uniform used by the British Armed forces. This was procured and announced in late 2009, predicated around use in the Afghanistan theatre of operations but applicable to other theatres.

The current outfit of combat clothing in use has now been produced in MTP and this has been issued to forces deploying to Afghanistan from mid 2010.

A range of patterns were trialled and evaluated in Britain, Cyprus, Kenya and Afghanistan with baseline comparison against existing DPM and desert patterns and existing commercially available patterns.

MTP is a six colour pattern with a similar organic style to the existing DPM.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

1960 Pattern

The first, limited, use of DPM

The 1968 Pattern range - the first general use of DPM

Later developments

Replacement - Multi-Terrain Pattern

See also

Further reading

External links