He signs belonging to an army, everyday clothing, the trellis of the French army makes its moult and its revolution. No more very yellow “desert” trellis, or very green “Center Europe” trellis, now places BME for “Multi-Environnement Buriola”: a single garment for all environments, in colors carefully chosen
It is an alternation of large and small broken spots, with a variegation of green, a hint of khaki, and a brown background called “land of France”. Very useful This “land of France” insists Commander Stéphane, the finger on the new trellis he carries, he is responsible for the BME program within the technical section of the Army: “There is a little brown, a little brown, we call it ‘Brun Terre de France’, which is the majority color and which is that which merges at the distance of the range of shots. »»
There is also white, a first. “Absolutely, moreover white, you see it on very little trellis in the world. It is a little bit a characteristic of the BME. White, it actually brings a very strong contrast, white is a little bit the reflection of the sun on a sheet in the edge. The contrasts given to us by colors give relief and allow this adaptation to a greater number of environments. »»
White but no black
White then, but this time no black, “The previous trellis merged in black and black in nature, it does not exist. In its natural state anyway. And it is the color that has the strongest report to infrared and even to the naked eye, so it was removed. It was actually a technical weakness for the Europe Center. »»
Simplify logistics
A trellis instead of two, the objective is therefore to simplify logistics. And to achieve six years of studies and tests will have been necessary, underlines the chief commissioner Nicolas, chief of the clothing division within the armies, “Yes, it takes time because for example, white to have this concealment effect, it is difficult to develop since the fabric is quite technical. It incorporates Aramid fibers, which gives protection into the fire, it is said that the trellis is thermostable. Then we have the tissue supply phase. We had to order 3.5 million linear meters. And once we have supplied the fabric and that it was checked to verify that it presented all the characteristics requested by the armies, we give it to other types of industrialists who will make the outfits. What has been important to us is to have time to constitute a sufficient stock for the distribution maneuver to happen fluidly and piloted. Once the ‘we’ button has been started, it never stops! »»
The chief of staff of the armies will be the last to perceive his own
Some 750,000 trellis have been ordered. Two French industrialists and a Belgian company produce the fabric which is then cut in Bulgaria, with some modifications, indicates Commander Stéphane: “” We added ergonomics to the Tris F 3 as it was initially designed. First of all, in the chest pocket, rather than having fabric at the bottom of the pocket, we put a mesh fabric, it is a fabric that is ventilated. Then we added a pocket that is superimposed on the cargo pocket that we have on the thigh. This new pocket opens vertically, when we have a knee on the ground, we can access this pocket and collect a checklist or a message to send, without needing to get up to get it back. ”
This BME trellis will be in granting for at least thirty years. The troops in operation will be the first equipped and as tradition dictates: the chief of staff of the armies will be the last to perceive his.