The Indian Army is going for a major change in uniform, which will be a major revamp from the current one in use. In a first, the new combat uniform will be showcased at the Republic Day parade on January 15, 2022, in New Delhi. The Indian Army has decided to go with digital camouflage, much like the US Army, which makes it better than the print used in the current uniform.
The new uniform is aimed at providing Indian Army personnel wearing them with more comfort and sustainability in all weather conditions. It is reported that the soldiers also won't have to tuck their shirt in, while the belt will be under the dress.
For the camo print, a mix of colours form earthen to olive have been chosen after calibrations with the National Institute of Fashion Technology and studying the military uniforms of other countries. The current uniforms are camouflaged in monochrome shades of green or brown in order to blend with different terrains.
Regular uniform may change too
It remains unclear if the shiny stars and badges on the uniforms of officers will be blackened for better camouflage. However, the new uniform will be more comfortable in both summers and winters, says an officer familiar with the developments. He further noted that a new regular uniform is also in the works for officers.
The change in the uniform, although long overdue, comes at the backdrop of the Indian Army requesting the Defence Ministry and Home Ministry to issue guidelines preventing use of combat uniforms while handling law and order situations in areas affected by terrorism.
"This unnecessarily leads to false alarms that the Army has been deployed for crowd control or other law and order duties," an officer was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Indian Navy introduced digital camouflage uniform last year that replaced the standard light-blue half-sleeve shirt and navy-blue pants. There are also different sets of uniforms worn by the Army, Navy and IAF on different occasions.
