Ex Army FV434 Instructor Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Most of the problem is these people either in whitehall or any outside company that supplies equipment ( at the cheapest cost possable) have never been in the army themselves. Therefore you end up with people developing the kit who have all sorts of academic qualifications and no real experiance apart from on paper of whats needed. This is nothing new is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abn deuce Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Or the basic rule for government purchasing that the winner of the bidding on the contract is the lowest cost manufacturer. I d think sometimes it would be nice to be able to pick the next to the lowest and not the very lowest as I sure wouldn't want the equipment say a bullet proof-vest to be made by the cheapest guy around ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex Army FV434 Instructor Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 what often also transpires is that more often than not the governing politicians tend to be somehow connected with or very soon after they leave office end up being on the board of the particular company that won the contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferretfixer Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Most of the problem is these people either in whitehall or any outside company that supplies equipment ( at the cheapest cost possable) have never been in the army themselves. Therefore you end up with people developing the kit who have all sorts of academic qualifications and no real experiance apart from on paper of whats needed. This is nothing new is it? This is spot on! The 'Designers' come up with kit they THINK the Service want. Instead of actually linking up with Boots on the ground IN THEATRE. s they can see & get direct feedback from the people actually using the kit/ equipment. as for 'Higher ups' leaving the Service & going on the boards ofcompanies producing stuff, that sounds familiar! I worked for a company for 11 years in Weapons Manufacture. the Boss came up with an 'Armourers Toolkit' which he was retailing for £1,500 a throw. All the actual hand tools were from the pound shop!!!:shocked: They were rubbish & wouldnt have lasted five minutes in use. He was ALL about minimum outlay & maximum profit. I was angry, because as a Proffesional Armourer myself. I could have given practical advise for what my counterparts would actually nedd in the field. These sort of profiteers seem to forget that Peoples lives can be on the line doing thier job in a combat enviroment & NEED equipment that they can rely on! This is typical of the Firearms industry in the defense sector. It is amazing how cheap you can buy in live weapons with the correct papaerwork. The retail profits are HUGE!!! I can cite ONE example. I refurbished Two GPMGs to L7A2 spec. I KNOW these were bought in for £1oo each, live. I refurbed them to as new spec & they sold on to a 'Customer' for £1,500 each (Live) HE, then sold them on to a (Cannot reveal who) 'customer' who was a Foriegn Police Agency for £15,000 EACH!!!! Corruption? Who, us Guv.......Typical!!! :argh: Mike. :coffee: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoggyDriver Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 I can see where they are comming from though. It's a nightmare in the field having to carry too much kit. I had a real headache packing my gear as I always packed too much kit that I ended up not using. I agree that they use the cheapest supplier possible. All my boots I took with me when I left the Army are now useless as the souls have fallen apart I presume due to the polish getting on the rubber and degrading it. I've only got a few sets of Assult boots left that are any good, and they are new. My Desert boots are OK though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtistsRifles Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Got to admit - my old DMS boots are still going strong - and I was issued those way back in 1975! Showing the (old) age there I fear!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 Just bought myself a new parka. It's in the Polish version of Multicam (Camogrom?), very similar to the USA type, but brown dominant and no black in the pattern. It'll be interesting to compare them both to the British varient, although I've yet to see an example of it. (Parka in Polish, trousers in USA pattern.): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snapper Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) I can't post a Crown Copyright picture. But I can tell you the new uniform is similar to the one on the right in the snap in Pete's post below. It does have the black bits - like a curry fueled pigeon has dusted off over you. M Edited March 28, 2010 by Snapper improvement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 (edited) I've just come across this: http://www.stripes.com/articlephoto.asp?section=104&article=66907&photo=1&count=1 Hmmm? It's very different to the Polish and USA patterns. Here's another snippet of info' for you. When viewed with nightvision and IR illumination, The Polish pattern looses all of it's camo properties (ie, it just shows up as plain green.), where as the USA pattern still has disruptive properties. Jeez, I should have bought an anorak rather than a parka!:yawn::embarrassed: Edited March 28, 2010 by Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plainmilitary Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 The latest version of camo for the Brits. Pictures taken at the Pashtun Rat media day. Hope this helps.... Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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