The Dutch Armed Forces are getting a new outfit with a new camouflage pattern, and in my opinion it looks great! The old camouflage pattern was introduced in 1992 and was called ‘Woodland’.
Units were able to purchase new uniforms autonomously later on, and that is how they got the uniforms with the MultiCam camouflage pattern. I have seen photos where the soldiers were wearing different patterns on them.
As an outsider having these different uniforms and patterns seems a bit strange, especially worn together, so to me it seems like a good thing that the first uniforms with the new Netherlands Fractal Pattern (NFP) are being supplied. And… here it is:
Comparison Woodland vs NFP
And here you see the comparison between the Woodland and NFP camouflage pattern in an Instagram short:
The new pattern will be exclusively sold to the Dutch Armed Forces, in contrast with for example the Woodland pattern.
Opinions about the new camouflage pattern
And while I think the new pattern looks really awesome, I’ve read some critic reactions on some socials that the pattern looks too much like the pattern used by the Russian army, especially from a distance. It’s also ‘pixely’ and has similar dark accents. From a distance, it kinda looks the same, while the Woodland pattern looked more similar to the US Army (they also used the Woodland pattern in the past as well) and the U.S. have a pattern that has a ‘lighter’ look . For comparison there is also an image of the MARPAT pattern used by U.S. Marines.
Russian Army camouflage pattern.
And here the Netherlands Fractal Pattern.
The MARPAT pattern used by the U.S. Marine Corps
Even when it would look similar to other patterns: getting an all new, modern, outfit after a lot of research and development could be good for morale as well.
You can also see it in action in this new video of the Royal Dutch Marines! You almost can’t see them, they are camouflaged so well!
Details of the Fractal Pattern
The developers of the new pattern discovered that when details like the straps on gear weren’t camouflaged, this together would become one big even colored part. So they have also added the pattern to the straps of the gear, isn’t that cool?!
The pattern consists of 8 different colors. Because if has more colors in comparison to for example the German Flecktarn (that has 5), it blends in to more areas around the world (source).
Also nice to know; the fabric of the clothing is printed in such a way that it does not glow when it’s under infrared radiation. They do this by adding a certain amount of carbon to the colors. This prevents the uniform to light up in the dark which wouldn’t be handy if you want to survive in a hostile environment.
Variations of the Dutch Fractal Pattern
The NFP pattern has 3 variations: the darker green variation for wooded and urban areas, the lighter one for dry areas such as the desert, and the blue one for the navy.
Further readings about Dutch camouflage
A really nice article from Strikehold about the history of Dutch camouflage which is a translation from Dutch Defence Press.
An article from the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Militaire Historie.
This article in the Defensiekrant.
