The Camouflage Central-Europe (French: Camouflage Centre-Europe) is the standard camouflage pattern of the French Armed Forces.[1]
It is also used for vehicles of the French Army but with different shapes, since 1986,[2] it took six years to generalize it to the entire military fleet. It is now being replaced since 2020 by the "Scorpion Camouflage" which is intended for new generation vehicles.[3]
History
Camouflage Central-Europe (CCE) was introduced in 1991,[4] replacing both TAP 47 pattern camouflage and khaki F2 uniforms as used by the French military. But the pattern was brought to service by 1994.[5]
In 2018, a contract worth €50 million was made for new combat suits in CCE camo pattern.[6]
Two variants of the CCE are used in French military uniforms, which consist of the Uniform T3 and the Uniform T4.[7] In 2019, the Tenue Combat F3 uniform was announced to be the standard uniform in CCE for the French Army.[8]
In 2024, it's due to be replaced by a Multicam-based camo called the BME.[9][10]
Design
It is suggested that the design of the CCE was primarily based around the summer foliage of Fontainebleau forest.[11] The design is made of black branches and large horizontal medium green and brown colored elements on a tan background,[11] being inspired by the U.S. Woodland pattern.[12]
French body armour and helmet covers in Camouflage Central-Europe.
Comoros: CCE clones used by Comoran military units.[15]
France: Introduced by the French military in 1991,[4] but only adopted in service in 1994.[5]
India: Used the similar camouflage pattern inspired by CCE for Indian Troops from 2006, officially designated as PC-DPM[16] Being replaced by new disruptive digital pattern made by NIFT from 2022.[17]
Qatar: Used by Qatari troops deployed to Lebanon in 2006.[18]
^"Armée de Terre : Révolutionnaire, le "camouflage adaptatif en milieu terrestre" pourrait être prêt en 2025". Zone Militaire (in French). 2021-11-29. Retrieved 2022-01-15.
^"La couleur de l'été, c'est le Brun Terre de France". lignesdedefense.blogs.ouest-france.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-01-14.
^ a b"UF PRO Begins Producing Limited Quantity of Striker X BDUs in High-Performing French CCE Camo Pattern - Soldier Systems Daily". 25 March 2022.
^"French Central European Camo Combat Suits". 17 December 2019.
^"Uniforms | French Foreign Legion Information".
^"French Army Introduces New Combat Uniform - Soldier Systems Daily". 14 June 2018.
^"French Army adopts new BME multi-environment combat uniform | Defense News May 2022 Global Security army industry | Defense Security global news industry army year 2022 | Archive News year".