Source: The BBC - www.bbc.co.ukToday is quite a historic day as far as British Army combat uniforms are concerned. Always famed for it's reticence to change, the British Army have finally decided to supplant it's famous DPM variants (green and desert) by one 'Multi Terrain Pattern' (MTP)...

The BBC have a nice segment about it, and from first looks I think it looks very similar to the 'Ghost Recon' camo! And I have to say that I quite like it.

One very interesting point in the BBC feature is that the Force's spokesman - Lieutenant Colonel Toby Evans - explained that today's camouflage is not only a practical item of equipment but also the British Army's corporate brand.

I have hear this idea a couple of time recently in documentaries discussing modern uniform - most notably about the American ACU (or 'ICU' as we like to call it) - and the idea is quite a ironic one. Camouflage is usually adopted as a means of concealment, but modern camos - like ACU and the new MTP - are also designed to be identifiable as the users 'signature'. In other word we are actually going back to the old idea that an army should be recognized by it's uniform, and that that uniform is sign of it's professionalism (a sort of warning to the enemy that they are up against very good troops).

An interesting idea.

Source: The BBC - www.bbc.co.ukAs I said, I actually like the new British MTP and it is interesting that the MoD decided not to go for a digital pattern. Earlier last year a digital version of DPM was released by a commercial company and it was suggested that British Army Special Forces were trying it out - but I felt that the digital pattern in this camo was far to repeated, making the camouflage effect less efficient.

The new MTP is an analogue pattern made up of mid-tones so that it blends in with the variety of terrain that troops are coming across in Afghanistan. As the spokesman says it is perfect for every occasion, but it seems to be suitable for a much wider range of environments than the very zone specific green DPM or Desert DPM that was being used.

From airsofter's point of view the new British pattern will be a winner I think. The bottom line is that it is *new* and *cool* - easily as good looking as any of the modern American patterns that airsofters seem to like at the moment. And while some people might not think that a cool looking camo is all that important, it does in it's own way add to the prestige and professional feeling of the troops who wear it.

I think it's a winner - now let's see how long it takes to be copied by Viper!

Link to the BBC new item: British Army to get new camouflage uniform