British Army to get new uniforms – turned down by the US and made in China.

[Jaegerhando]

I qoute here an excerpt "Other designs filtered out included some that bore resemblance to uniforms of the Second World War Waffen SS units."
1)I wonder which WSS camp pattern they tested out?
2)Also wonder if the WSS camo pattern was the best, but rejected due to political considerations? I mean this uniforms going to be used in Afstan, Iraq etc and the use of WSS inspird uniforms could play into the propaganda of the enemy who could associate the UK forces with an invading/occupation force?


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-in-China.html

[FLiPSiDE]

That is interesting (and looks like a good camo pattern). I just wonder why they wouldn't give that business of making the uniforms to a UK manufacturing company? I don't mean that as an affront on the UK military (as I'm sure the US would do the same thing). Just seems to me, especially when it involves the military, why not give the contract to a company in your own country (keep the money local)?

[Jean-Loup]

If the SS patern was good, then they should use it. Who appart from military geek knows how to recognise an SS camo patern after 65 yars anyways?
It is ridicuous not to use something good just because it resembles something the SS used.

[VtwinVince]

Agreed, it's like the Olympic clothing being hawked here is all made in China

[leibermuster]

The Russians have a 'Partizan' pattern camo they use with some units that is so close to SS oak that it is obvious they copied it.
There is still a negative connotation with 'Nazi' uniforms though, look at the Czechs that recently got thrown out of the army for painting Hohenstaufen and Dirlewanger symbols on their kit. It was probably just them messing around but it sure pissed off someone.

[paddywhack]

the media would have a field day if it turned out the camo used was an ss pattern!!! it is a pity that they couldnt give the job of the manufacturing of the new uniforms to there own country but then again you can bet they got the cheapest quote from china!!!!!

[PlaceOfBayonets]

If the SS patern was good, then they should use it. Who appart from military geek knows how to recognise an SS camo patern after 65 yars anyways?
It is ridicuous not to use something good just because it resembles something the SS used.

And I don't see what it matters now since the U.S. Army is using a Fritz style helmet since the late 80's.

W.

PS, can China even make durable BDU's? Everything I ever got from China so far as field clothes was crap and tore out within a week or less.

[Seigfried]

And I don't see what it matters now since the U.S. Army is using a Fritz style helmet since the late 80's.

W.

PS, can China even make durable BDU's? Everything I ever got from China so far as field clothes was crap and tore out within a week or less.

We are lucky that we are not getting a hundred thousand pairs of black pyjamas...

[Theodor]

One single camo pattern to hide in European forest, in Asian desert, in grass steppe and in rocky wastelands? In spring, summer, autumn and winter? I wish them luck! This sounds like a military budget saver and casualty buster.

[Gene T]

Please re-read the article, guys. The contractor is from Northern Ireland, not China. It looks like they will farm out the labor-intensive, low margin manufacturing process to China in order to maximize profit for themselves, as many European and American companies do these days (owing to market pressure). So while some (bulk?) of the work will be done in China, the clothes will technically be "produced" in the UK, and the lion's share of the profits will be pocketed by the UK contractor, and presumably stay in the UK.

As for the 'crap' made by the Chinese that lasts only a week, blame should be directed at the companies (European or American) whose labels grace this 'crap', because they are the ones who gave the Chinese manufacturers the crappy specs or set the cost constraints. If you pay the Chinese $5 for a jacket that costs them $4.50 to make, because you want to sell it for $20 at Walmart and still make a decent profit, no one should expect that thing to perform like a $200 garment. There is nothing extraordinary going on here, and garment manufacture is not rocket science - the Chinese can and will make something as shoddy or as high end as they are asked/pressured to make by their European or American vendor. After all, if the products don't meet the vendor's specs, the manufacturer will not only have to eat all the associated costs, but face the very real prospect of losing out on future opportunities in a highly saturated competitive environment.

If you need a jacket that lasts more than a week, there are plenty of available options out there, many of which are also Chinese-made; you just have to pay more. One thing is for sure however, whether you are talking about a $20 disposable piece of junk or a $200 keeper, you can expect to pay at least double their retail price if either of these had been made here.

Bashing the Chinese may be a fashionable sport nowadays (has it ever gone out of fashion?), but the fact is we are really just looking at the basic consequences of globalized capitalism. Once Chinese labor stops being cheap (that day will arrive soon enough), low end manufacturing will go somewhere else (it might even come back to the US, depending on where our economy is headed) - so long as there continues to be a market demand for items priced in the 'crap' range.

Cornering the crap-manufacture market is a reflection of a country's average labor cost, not its inherent capacity to make quality goods. We shouldn't confound these two things. Misjudging or underestimating your competition is one sure way of giving up some of your own competitive edge. I have a feeling that a certain contractor in Northern Ireland is quite glad that he doesn't suffer from this self-inflicted handicap. <O</O
<O</O
<O</O

Gene T<O</O

[Kozlov]

A better article is here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8422942.stm

Watch the video on that page... take note of the bit where he tells you that cammo is about national ID as much as concealment... and then try to figure out why anything approaching W-SS cammo would be inappropriate for the British Army....

Perhaps the non-Brits don't get it, but WW2 isn't something just a bunch of hobbyist loons is into, its deeply burnt into the British psyche

[Crunchey11B]

WTF is everthing made in China??

[Kozlov]

Because thats capitalism for you Comrade...