![]() ![]() The operational introduction of the new British MTP coincided with a decision by the US Army to start replacing the ineffectual Universal Camouflage Pattern with MultiCam for operations in Iraq, after in-theatre comparison trials of a four-colour Delta version of UCP returned poor results against the proprietary camo. Now being phased out, US Army Universal Camo Pattern or UCP was ineffective and short-lived My attention was first drawn to this pattern by my facilitator and friend ‘Sniper John’, who spotted it was being worn operationally in Chad after our sadly missed colleague Yves Debay photographed it on militia in that combat zone in 2008. However Crye Precision realised they had a potential commercial winner on their hands and, to avoid Intellectual Property Rights issues, they further developed Scorpion pattern by adding some near vertical elements to the design and what we now know as MultiCam was born. To cut a very long story short this MultiCam predecessor which is now generally referred to as Scorpion was not originally chosen because the US Army decided to follow the example set by the US Marines with their digital or pixellated MARPAT patterns and instead opted for the digital Universal Camouflage Pattern or UCP. So what is the difference between MultiCam / OEFP and OCP? Although many seem to think that the proprietary MultiCam pattern, which though often copied is actually protected by copyright and trademark legislation, started the current camo revolution this honour actually goes to a predecessor pattern developed around the cusp of the millennium for a US Army requirement. A militiaman in Chad wearing MultiCam in 2008 – an early operational photo of this pattern
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