From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   Canadian Forces to order new uniforms   
      
   By David Pugliese, July 30, 2011   
      
   The Canadian Forces plans to order thousands of new uniforms after   
   determining the current design is based on a “gentleman’s” combat uniform   
   and doesn’t fit well with equipment.   
      
   Initial sets of the Improved Combat Uniform or ICU were produced earlier   
   this year and were distributed to a small number of individuals so they   
   could provide “user acceptance” comments by July 19, according to Defence   
   Department documents obtained by the Citizen.   
      
   The design of the final uniform will be decided by mid-August and the   
   military will then proceed to gather the information and specifications   
   needed to go to industry for full-scale production.   
      
   A request for proposals from companies will go out in January and a   
   decision made on the winning company by the spring. Production of the new   
   uniforms is expected to begin next June.   
      
   The Defence Department estimates the production rate would be about 500   
   sets of uniforms per week or around 24,000 a year.   
      
   Among the problems with the current uniforms is that they take too long   
   to dry and the design is based on a ‘gentleman’s’ combat uniform with   
   shirt collar and cuffs, according to the military. That uniform offers   
   “poor integration with operational equipment (frag vest),” the Defence   
   Department documents added.   
      
   There is also no protection on the knees in the current uniforms and fire   
   resistance protection is lacking. In addition, there are undesired   
   pressure points such as on the breast pockets and the uniform does not   
   wick away moisture, according to a list of deficiencies produced by the   
   Canadian Forces.   
      
   The new uniforms will have a mandarin collar, flat chest pockets, Velcro   
   attachments on sleeve cuffs and integrated kneepads. The Canadian Forces   
   also plans to get rid of drawstrings on the current uniform and provide a   
   better fit with the new uniforms, according to the DND documents.   
      
   “Substantial improvements to the current uniform are now being assessed   
   by the Canadian Forces,” the Defence Department noted in an e-mail to the   
   Citizen. “These improvements will strengthen comfort and protection,   
   while improving the fit of combat uniforms for maximum operational   
   effectiveness, and are responsive to feedback from Canadian Forces   
   members who are wearing this uniform in the field.”   
      
   The e-mail noted that the priority is to get the uniforms to combat   
   units, after which the entire Canadian Forces will be outfitted.   
      
   Asked how many new uniforms would be purchased, DND did not respond with   
   a number. The e-mail, however, stated “Given that this is a product   
   improvement, quantities should be procured based on our annual usage in   
   order to sustain the requirements of the Canadian Forces.”   
      
   The cost of the new uniforms is not being released at this time.   
      
   Soldier Systems, a website that reports on the uniform and equipment   
   industry, noted that new Canadian clothing is similar to the U.S. Army’s   
   uniform, also known as the ACU. “There are two ironies at work here,” the   
   Soldier Systems article pointed out. “The first is obviously that the   
   uniform is becoming more ACU-like even as U.S. Soldiers complain of the   
   ACU’s features. The second is that the uniform improvements won’t be   
   fielded until Canadian combat troops have left Afghanistan.”   
      
   Throughout the last decade the military has been using its uniforms with   
   a unique camouflage called Canadian Disruptive Pattern or CADPAT.   
      
   In 2002, the Defence Department acknowledged problems with the then   
   relatively new uniforms after soldiers complained they were starting to   
   fade after only a year of use.   
      
   DND blamed the problem on exposure to sunlight and laundry detergents,   
   which it claimed accelerated colour loss.   
      
   Some soldiers also complained the seams on their uniforms were coming   
   apart, pockets had been sewn upside down or inside out and zippers   
   weren’t working. But DND noted that only a small number of more than   
   200,000 uniforms had those problems.   
      
   The Improved Combat Uniform will also continue to be produced in the   
   CADPAT designs.   
      
   Over the longer term the Canadian Forces is working on improving the   
   equipment being carried by individual soldiers. Plans call for outfitting   
   troops with personal computers and other systems that can improve how   
   they navigate and communicate.   
      
   That program would provide equipment not only to allow troops to track   
   each other as they move throughout the battlefield, but feed   
   communications and targeting information into their helmets or to a small   
   personal data device they would each carry.   
      
   That project, called the Integrated Soldier System, received approval   
   several years ago and meetings have been ongoing with industry. Such   
   equipment is expected to be fielded in the coming years.   
      
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