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Personal Clothing System introduced
08 Feb '11
2 min read
UK Armed Forces will be issued with the new Personal Clothing System (PCS) to replace Combat Soldier 95 (CS95) uniform it has been announced, Monday 7 February 2011.
The new clothing system will start to be issued to units from early 2011 in accordance with Front Line Command (FLC) fielding plans and will start to be issued to new recruits from October 2011. The roll-out will be complete to most personnel by April 2013.
The PCS consists of combat uniform (CU), ancillary items (AI) and waterproof clothing. Combat uniform replaces the camouflage lightweight jacket, trousers and windproof smock while ancillary items and waterproofs replace the t-shirt, Norwegian shirt, fleece and waterproofs of the current CS95 system.
All camouflage items will be in Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP). Other items will be in Khaki.
Since the introduction of CS95 in 1995, combat body armour has now become mandatory wear for personnel both training for and deploying on operations. As a result, while the principles of CS95 still apply, the design of the clothing items needs refreshing to reflect the changes and lessons learnt from operations.
This also allows changes resulting from developments in material technology to be incorporated. All camouflage clothing items will also change to MTP camouflage. Combat footwear is not part of the PCS but a separate competition to replace the combat assault boot is underway, allowing delivery in 2012.
MTP camouflage, introduced for operations in April 2010, incorporates elements of Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) shapes to create a unique British camouflage that will replace both Woodland and Desert DPM for use in training and on operations. While the Woodland and Desert camouflages are very good in their very specific environments, MTP is the best-performing across the widest range of environments, while only being marginally less effective than Woodland and Desert DPM in those areas.
MTP will be controlled to ensure it is only available for military issue; it will not be released for the manufacture of items for commercial sale.
The design principles of CS95 as a layered system of clothing allowing flexibility for temperature regulation remain extant. This has been retained in the PCS; however, it recognises the increased requirements for protection, both in the integration with body armour and incorporation of extremity protection and fittings for potential combat identification systems.
Click here for more details
The new clothing system will start to be issued to units from early 2011 in accordance with Front Line Command (FLC) fielding plans and will start to be issued to new recruits from October 2011. The roll-out will be complete to most personnel by April 2013.
The PCS consists of combat uniform (CU), ancillary items (AI) and waterproof clothing. Combat uniform replaces the camouflage lightweight jacket, trousers and windproof smock while ancillary items and waterproofs replace the t-shirt, Norwegian shirt, fleece and waterproofs of the current CS95 system.
All camouflage items will be in Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP). Other items will be in Khaki.
Since the introduction of CS95 in 1995, combat body armour has now become mandatory wear for personnel both training for and deploying on operations. As a result, while the principles of CS95 still apply, the design of the clothing items needs refreshing to reflect the changes and lessons learnt from operations.
This also allows changes resulting from developments in material technology to be incorporated. All camouflage clothing items will also change to MTP camouflage. Combat footwear is not part of the PCS but a separate competition to replace the combat assault boot is underway, allowing delivery in 2012.
MTP camouflage, introduced for operations in April 2010, incorporates elements of Disruptive Pattern Material (DPM) shapes to create a unique British camouflage that will replace both Woodland and Desert DPM for use in training and on operations. While the Woodland and Desert camouflages are very good in their very specific environments, MTP is the best-performing across the widest range of environments, while only being marginally less effective than Woodland and Desert DPM in those areas.
MTP will be controlled to ensure it is only available for military issue; it will not be released for the manufacture of items for commercial sale.
The design principles of CS95 as a layered system of clothing allowing flexibility for temperature regulation remain extant. This has been retained in the PCS; however, it recognises the increased requirements for protection, both in the integration with body armour and incorporation of extremity protection and fittings for potential combat identification systems.
Click here for more details
UK Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence
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