MultiCam


MultiCam is a camouflage pattern designed for use in a wide range of conditions produced by Crye Precision. Variants of it, some unlicensed, are in use with armed forces worldwide. The pattern is also available for civilian usage.

History

First unveiled and designed in 2002, MultiCam was designed for the use of the U.S. Army in varied environments, seasons, elevations, and light conditions. It is a seven-color, multi-environment camouflage pattern developed by Crye Precision in conjunction with United States Army Soldier Systems Center.
The pattern was included in the U.S. Army's move to replace the 3-Color Desert and Woodland patterns, but in 2004 lost to the Universal Camouflage Pattern that came to be used in the Army Combat Uniform. Nonetheless, it remained in limited use by the Army in the mid-to-late 2000s for its "Future Force Warrior" program demonstrations.
MultiCam was re-commissioned by the U.S. Army in 2010, replacing UCP for units deploying to fight in the War in Afghanistan, under the designation, Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern. It had already been used by some American special operations units and civilian law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Army discontinued the use of UCP in October 2019.
MultiCam is available for commercial sale to civilians.
A version of MultiCam has been adopted by the armed forces of the United Kingdom as the Multi-Terrain Pattern, replacing their previous DPM camouflage. MTP retains the color palette of Multicam but incorporates shapes similar to the previous DPM scheme. After using the Multicam scheme in Afghanistan, Australia has also adopted its own version, combining the pattern of Multicam with the color palette of its earlier DPCU / Auscam pattern.
On 25 November 2013, Crye Precision unveiled a family of MultiCam variants. The variants are designed for arid, tropical, and snow-covered environments, plus a black variant for use by law enforcement tactical teams.

Appearance

MultiCam has a background of a brown to light tan gradient, overprinted with a dark green, olive green, and lime green gradient and a top layer of opaque dark brown and cream-colored shapes spread throughout the pattern. This allows for the overall appearance to change from predominantly green to predominantly brown in different areas of the fabric, while having smaller shapes to break up the larger background areas.
The MultiCam color scheme in is as follows: Cream 524 ; Dark Brown 530 ; Tan 525 ; Brown 529 ; Dark Green 528 ; Olive 527 ; and Pale Green 526 .
Non-licensed copies of the original pattern will often have slightly different colors, creating an altered overall effect.

Variants

Australia

On 19 November 2010, after trials by Australian special operations forces, the Australian Defence Force announced that Multicam will be standard for all regular Australian Army personnel in Afghanistan. Multicam, it is said, provided "... troops with greater levels of concealment across the range of terrains in Afghanistan – urban, desert and green." Previously, depending upon the terrain, Australian troops had to transition between green and desert colored Australian Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniforms. On 30 May 2011 the Defence Material Organisation announced that they had obtained licence to produce Multicam in Australia for US$4.7 million and Crye would also design a new uniquely Australian pattern for another US$3.1 million.
The Australian Army decided to standardize MultiCam-patterned uniforms starting in October 2014 called the Australian Multicam Camouflage Uniform. The AMCU is manufactured domestically by Australian Defence Apparel and Pacific Brands Workwear Group and comes in two variations, field and combat, using a tested Australian Multi-Camouflage Pattern that can operate in bush, desert, and jungle conditions. Previous Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniforms and Australian MultiCam Pattern Operational Combat Uniforms will be worn until all Army personnel have been issued with the AMCU.
The Australian Navy is testing a Multicam-based pattern called the Maritime Multi-cam Pattern Uniform to potentially replace the DPNU in field trials as of 2019.

Georgia

A domestic variant of MultiCam is in use with the Georgian Armed Forces as standard issue for all military branches as well as special units of the MIA and State Security. The pattern got adopted somewhere in 2010 replacing the DWC and MARPAT and since has been produced in a slightly altered version that fits better to the local environment.

Hungary

Poland

A modified version of MultiCam has been adopted by the some of Polish Special Forces. It is named Suez.

Portugal

As part of the Sistemas de Combate do Soldado project, in 2018, the Portuguese Army started to experiment a new individual equipment system for the dismounted soldiers, which includes a new camouflaged Multicam-style uniform. This new uniform was tested in the field by units deployed to the Central African Republic, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2019, the Multicam-style camouflaged was officially adopted as the Multiterreno, becoming the standard field uniform camouflage of the Portuguese Army, gradually replacing the Disruptive Pattern Material pattern. It was developed in cooperation with the Centro De Investigação Desenvolvimento e Inovação da Academia Militar or Investigation Center for Development and Innovation of the Military Academy.

Russia

Multicam has also been adopted by some Russian Spetsnaz units, including FSB Alpha, the SSO, and by the Internal Troops of the MVD. It's reported that Russia makes their own MultiCam camos.

United Kingdom

The colors of the Multicam pattern were also used in the development of the British armed forces Multi-Terrain Pattern. British forces deployed in Afghanistan used the Multi-Terrain Pattern from March 2010 onwards. The colors used in Crye's MultiCam technology were determined to be the best performing, across the widest range of environments when compared with the two existing Disruptive Pattern Material designs in use at the time and was subsequently selected as the basis for the new MTP camouflage, combined with the existing DPM base pattern. On 27 June 2020, the Royal Marines announced they will adopt a new uniform made by Crye which uses the original MultiCam pattern instead of MTP.

United States

MultiCam is currently in use by the U.S. Special Operations Command, and some private military contractors. Several members of the U.S. Army's Charlie Company, 2d Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment were also seen wearing MultiCam when followed by ABC News. In 2010, U.S. soldiers deployed to Afghanistan were issued MultiCam versions of the Army Combat Uniform, as the existing Universal Camouflage Pattern was found to be inadequate for the terrain.
In May 2014, the Army selected a pattern similar to MultiCam called Scorpion W2 to replace UCP, naming it the Operational Camouflage Pattern. The original Scorpion pattern was jointly developed by Crye Precision and the Army for the Objective Force Warrior program in 2002, and Crye made small adjustments for trademark purposes to create MultiCam. Because Scorpion is similar to MultiCam, the same color Velcro, buttons, and zippers can be reused. OCP resembles MultiCam with muted greens, light beige, and dark brown colors, but uses fewer beige and brown patches and no vertical twig and branch elements. On 31 July 2014, the Army formally announced that OCP would begin being issued in uniforms in summer 2015. Soldiers are allowed to wear uniforms and field equipment patterned in MultiCam until they can acquire OCP, which is allowed until MultiCam uniforms' wear-out date projected on 1 October 2018. Beginning October 1, 2018, USAF personnel will begin transition from ABU's to OCP until 2021.
Some local, state and federal law enforcement agencies also make use of the pattern, including the Drug Enforcement Administration's Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams teams operating in Afghanistan as well as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Special Reaction Team, the Spokane, Washington Police Department, and the Oregon State Police SWAT team.

Users

Known to be used by anti-government forces in Syria, including: