Some years ago, uniforms in this odd pattern showed up for sale online but with no stated origins. They bore some similarities to Cryes in terms of features and labels, but none of the listings stated anything definitively, and of course that lead people to speculate on the internet if these were just some weird Chinese junk (the go to response for people who don’t really know what they’re talking about but want to look like they do).
Eventually someone made the connection that these are issued to the armed forces of the United Arab Emirates. The patterns’ official name is M16 and from what I can see of recent UDF images online, it seems to be their primary current issue camouflage.
I’ve personally seen these combat shirts along with some field shirts and field cut trousers for sale online, though most of them have been outlandish sizes like 42-XShort trousers and the like. It took me a while to find a set that, while not a great fit, would be vaguely close to wearable. Fortunately they don’t attract much value, but every item I’ve seen has been Tencate FR, so they’ll be very pricey for the UAE to buy new. Given the styling and labelling, I’d wager that the actual manufacture was done by a subsidiary or out-sourced contractor for Crye, or otherwise linked in some manner.
The main base colour is so light that these would almost make a half decent snow camo. Only really of use in the most arid of areas, but equally not a pattern you’re going to run in to every day.
Leave a Reply