Category: Brand

The rollout of Navy’s new maritime multi-patterned uniform (MMPU) has begun in the Sydney region.

The Australian-designed and manufactured uniforms have been a collaborative effort between Defence and industry and are already delivering significant benefits to Navy people both in shore-based positions and for those personnel serving at sea.

Director-General Navy Logistics, Commodore Nathan Robb, said the contribution of Australian industry had been critical to the development of the new uniform.

“This project has delivered significant benefits to Navy people, who have been a key contributor to the outcomes by way of testing and feedback in the design of the uniforms during the project,” Commodore Robb said.

“By listening to our people and working with industry, the uniform delivered is more lightweight, fit for Navy purpose and suitable for the range of conditions and environments our Navy operates in.

“The design and delivery of the MMPU is an excellent example of collaboration to deliver improved capability for our people and, beyond that, it is an Australian solution that provides resilience in supply chains and benefits local industry.”

The garments are manufactured in Australia by Australian Defence Apparel (ADA), based in Bendigo and Melbourne, Victoria, and Workwear Group in Melbourne using fabric manufactured by Bruck Textiles in Wangaratta, Victoria.

ADA’s Australian industry capability manager, David Frith, said ADA embraced the opportunity to be involved in the MMPU project to demonstrate Australian capability and to benefit ADF people.

“We designed this uniform in partnership with Defence, and we searched globally for the best fabric we could find, and then designed and tested solutions that met Navy’s requirements,” Mr Frith said.

“The result is a complete Australian solution, designed in-house at ADA in Victoria incorporating the latest research and development approaches to better solve things like the fire-retardant properties required for the at-sea version of the uniform.

“Our large research and development team and designers looked at trends and innovations globally to bring advanced solutions for the MMPU uniform.

“This project is evidence that Australian manufacturing can deliver and compete very strongly with the rest of the world.”

Bruck Textiles’s Group general manager, Vineet Dhawan, said the manufacture of the MMPU material in Australia showcased the ability to innovate and deliver capability in Australia.

“We are very proud to have produced this new, innovative, lightweight solution, which has made the shirt 25 percent lighter, the trousers 15 percent lighter, and has incorporated the fire-retardant properties within the fabric, not in addition to the fabric,” Mr Dhawan said.

“Being involved in this great project helps keep both industry and the capability sustainable.”

The new uniform has received positive feedback.

Able Seaman Shona Bartell said she loved the new MMPU.

“The MMPU is very breathable and light, and I don’t have to worry about taking off my jacket so much, especially when working in in warmer conditions,” Able Seaman Bartell said.

“The new positioning of the pockets and the better visibility of rank slides are also benefits.”

Initial rollout of the MMPU began in Darwin and Cairns in October last year, followed by Western Australia earlier this year.

The rollout of MMPU across Navy is scheduled to take place progressively across remaining states and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022.

The 2021 Land Forces Expo in Brisbane will display a complete suite of ADA’s apparel innovations in the Soldier Combat Ensemble sphere.

Building on ADA’s ethos of human-centred design, the group will demonstrate local capability with a cascade of uniforms, body armour and load carriage innovations researched and engineered in the past 24 months with a range of revolutionary products prototyped to validate proof of concept.

The show is led by the evolution of load carriage and the breakthrough in ergonomics, resulting in a future where crucial challenges faced by personnel are addressed, injuries minimised, unit agility maximised, and performance optimised. The 3-day event will be the first reveal of the full collection of the load carriage solutions built to conform to 24–120 hour operations.

The display will include interactive next-generation and future soldier apparel systems providing a glimpse into adaptive camouflage technologies, innovative hybrid textiles with cutting-edge uniforms and body armour systems powered by fabric pioneers, Polartec.

In addition, the show will comprise the first-ever female fit soldier combat ensemble engineered and body-mapped to work with the female-specific form
Furthermore, the presentation will entail a live human augmentation exoskeleton demonstration to see the wearable product in full motion. Plus, provide visitors with an opportunity to take a closer look at the future of uniform program management with the latest technology in digital and virtual fitting solutions and uniform stores.

Collectively, ADA plans to unify industry with academia from Bond University Tactical Research Unit led by Dr Rob Orr to spark innovation, and possibility, and further strengthen the trident approach to solving performance challenges in soldier systems.

ADA’s division LEGEAR will also co-host on the stand introducing the latest products in the tactical market. See firsthand the newest products from GHOSTHOOD® camouflage systems featuring the CONCAMO confusion camouflage pattern, Trango training Infrastructure solutions to build modular and realistic training environments for personnel and new arrivals from UF Pro Tactical Clothing.

Register for entry to Land Forces here.