New: Digital No. 4
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Any of you can take a picture of your new and post it up here? Pretty please? You don't have to be in it. =D
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Finally, the announcement.
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The new uniform goes 'digital', with tiny pixels making soldiers harder to spot. The collar can be turned up to form a 'mandarin collar' so as to prevent abrasion from rifle slings. Its new fabric is also cooler and more comfortable. -- ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
SPOT them if you can. Chances are, you can't.The Singapore Armed Forces' new 'digital camouflage' uniform has been designed to make it even more difficult for soldiers to be detected.
The tiny pixels in the combat fatigues - commonly known as the No. 4 - have jagged boundary lines that produce a 'quivering effect' on the eye.
The 'visual noise' they create means it will be harder for a soldier to be spotted at distances of less than 50m.
The effect is akin to a person straining to make out a very low-resolution image on a computer screen.
When the soldier moves farther away, the pixels merge into larger shapes, which means the new look works just as well as the traditional camouflage pattern from afar.
This is the most radical revamp of the SAF's combat fatigues since the present uniform was introduced 25 years ago.
Besides the pixel patterns, the uniform comes in new shades and with tweaks, like the creation of a 'mandarin collar' to prevent abrasion from rifle slings.
It will be phased in over three years, with recruits, active servicemen and some national servicemen (NSmen) getting theirs from next year.
By 2011, all NSmen will be wearing them. There are about 300,000 active and reservist personnel here.
Soldiers in countries such as the United States, Canada and China have also adopted this camouflage pattern.
The Ministry of Defence said that the changes will meet the varying demands of the areas where the third-generation SAF soldiers operate in.
The new uniform will improve a soldier's ability to survive in the battlefield.
While soldiers in the past relied on forests for cover as much as they could, the grounds where battles are fought have shifted to include urban areas fringed by foliage.
With advances in equipment technology, soldiers today can be spotted more easily and shot at from closer range.
A team from the army and the Defence Science & Technology Agency was in charge of coming up with the new uniform and its members studied the colours and patterns for over a year.
Using computers, they mulled over hundreds of images in various light conditions.
Field trials were held and it was found that it was harder to detect soldiers when they wore the new uniforms.
Soldiers are trained to take aim and fire in four seconds once they spot their enemy. In their new greens, it took one or two seconds longer before they could be spotted.
The new uniform works well at night too. The material has been treated so that it maintains the new camouflage effect even when soldiers are viewed through night-vision devices.
The new fabric - woven from cotton and polyester - has also been designed to dry faster, transfer sweat to the outer surface more quickly and allow more air to circulate.
All this means the soldier won't feel so warm and this will prevent heatstroke in hot weather. Among other changes, the new uniform comes with fewer buttons on the chest and none on the shoulders. This relieves the pressure on the soldier's body when he dons equipment like body armour.
The epaulettes bearing officers' ranks have been moved from the shoulders to the chest area. For other servicemen, the ranks remain on the sleeves but are noticeably smaller.
At least one soldier is happy with the new fatigues.
Corporal Bryan Lee, 20, who has tried on the uniform, said: 'The new look will take some getting used to, but having tried it out in the field, I must say it is more effective and comfortable.'
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_274704.html
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looks nice in the jungle but real weird when view @ a white back grnd
-- refer to straits times main page and home h2.
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There's a gallery with many more images here.
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Originally posted by LazerLordz:
There's a gallery with many more images here.
i really couldn't find the guy donning the new uniform from the jungle pictures sia.. or it could just be the effects of me just waking up.. =X -
Damn,looks like I won't be able to use my left over rank patches when they issue the new uniform to me in reservist.But the vocation badges looks like still can use the old one.
I have a deep attachment to my SBO and Field Pack leh,such a waste to throw it all away for the new ones.
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It's ugly.
But if it works as well as they say it would, I'll wear it.
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Originally posted by LazerLordz:
There's a gallery with many more images here.
Not bad, Not bad at all!!! Cannot find the soldiers from the first few pictures. Now hoping to see how they perform in Fibua environment. Suppose to be good too according to the newspaper report.
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or is there even soldiers >:)
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wow not bad! so they going to change the LBV, even for the current soldiers?
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CHIO LAH!
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[URL=http://imageshack.us][IMG]http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/3689/42023525gt4.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://g.imageshack.us/img525/42023525gt4.jpg/1/][IMG]http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/42023525gt4.jpg/1/w320.png[/IMG][/URL] -
Must really eye power then can see...
The rest of the jungle pics, you can only easily spot the old uniform. The new camo uniform must look in with concentration of your eye power then can spot them.
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sibei ugly. US grey color tone is still ok.
but pixelated green is hideous...
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but... the name tag and singapore tag, they should also do something about it too
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Originally posted by martin_lim85:
wow not bad! so they going to change the LBV, even for the current soldiers?
The LBV shown in AsiaOne's photo gallery.. Doesn't look like LBV leh.. LBV has clips in the middle.. The one shown there, looks more like body armour..
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Originally posted by superlibra:
The LBV shown in AsiaOne's photo gallery.. Doesn't look like LBV leh.. LBV has clips in the middle.. The one shown there, looks more like body armour..
yup, i feels the same way too.
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Originally posted by martin_lim85:
yup, i feels the same way too.
Haha.. 英雄所�略�.. Great minds think alike..
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Originally posted by superlibra:
Haha.. 英雄所�略�.. Great minds think alike..
and i still cant find the soldier in digital hiding in the woods
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cannot find the soldier...
changing of the LBV and fieldpack for NSmen too ??
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so what if its ugly or not
like got choice not to wear like that -
Looks better than I expected to be honest.
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no desert boots?
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Originally posted by Man!x:
no desert boots?
SG got what desert?
i only got see some MAJ/LTC on pre-deploy training to overseas mission to Afgan/Iraq got wear... saw during nsf time...
those boots machiam like the Timberland quality and looks type... -
Originally posted by gaoxingdcf07:
cannot find the soldier...
changing of the LBV and fieldpack for NSmen too ??
NSmen reservists too... in phases... gradually...
Btw, i heard got minus from emart credits or not? true / false?
better spend 1st...