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LOL! Copy US to change uniform then now US change again when we just started. We will be wasting money to change again?
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News of the US Army going back to non-pixelised uniforms has raised questions over whether Singapore will follow suit.
Barely a week before Republic of Singapore Air Force and Navy servicemen got their new pixelised uniforms, the US Army, pioneer of the digital camouflage, has decided to phase it out, according to a June 24 report in the online American paper The Daily.
Eight years and US$5 billion (about S$6.4 billion) later, the latter has ditched the pixelised camouflage as "soldiers have roundly criticised the grey-green uniform for standing out almost everywhere", The Daily said.
However, experts my paper spoke to said that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) is unlikely to make the switch.
What works for the United States, which has in recent years fought largely in desert conditions in the Middle East, might not work for Singapore, said Mr Ho Shu Huang, an associate research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS).
"The SAF operates mainly in a jungle environment. As far as I can tell, there's no reason the SAF should go back (to non-pixelised uniforms)," said Mr Ho.
Also, the financial investment and intensive research into the uniforms mean it would be impractical for the uniforms to be overhauled so soon.
As they had been introduced only in the past three years, "for SAF to change them again, it's going to incur huge costs", said Dr Bernard Loo, associate professor of strategy and war at RSIS.
The Americans are going for another camouflage, dubbed MultiCam, which is designed to help the soldier hide in varied environments. It was developed by Crye Associates and US Army Soldier Systems Center.
According to MultiCamPattern. com, the camouflage "takes on an overall green appearance when under a green forest canopy and an overall tan look when in the open desert".
"Since only a very small portion of the human eye perceives colour, the brain does a lot of 'filling-in' for the eye," it stated.
Even if the MultiCam camouflage proves more effective, the SAF seems unlikely to abandon its pixelised camouflage.
Mr Ho said that it will not be prudent to change all uniforms when not everyone is exposed to multiple environments. "In the ideal world, we will equip everyone with everything. But that is not the case," he reasoned.
But he does not rule out the SAF issuing new uniforms to specific vocations should the need arise.
The pixelised uniforms for the Navy and Air Force, in grey and blue, were donned officially for the first time at the annual SAF Day parade on Sunday. By the end of this month, all servicemen will wear pixelised uniforms.
Posted: 17 May 2012, 1100 hours (Time is GMT +8 hours)
Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) personnel will soon receive new combat uniforms, commonly known as No. 4 uniforms. To meet the varying demands of the 3rd Generation Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF) operating environment, the SAF had introduced a new combat uniform for Army servicemen in 2008. The equipping of RSAF and RSN servicemen with the new No.4 uniform is part of the SAF's continuing effort to enhance the servicemen's survivability and operational effectiveness. This change will be phased-in progressively over the next three years.
For RSAF servicemen, the No.4 uniform will replace the current RSAF coverall for Air Force Engineers. Air Warfare Officers in the Command, Control and Communication community, as well as Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Pilots and Systems Specialists, will wear their No.4 uniforms during duty. For RSN servicemen, the No. 4 uniform will replace the Naval Combat Rig, worn by personnel on board ships, at naval bases and in base defence squadrons.
The new No. 4 uniforms will debut at this year's Singapore Armed Forces Day Parade and National Day Parade. Equipping for active servicemen will commence in the later part of 2012 while Operationally Ready National Servicemen will be progressively equipped from 2013 onwards.
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