Following the introduction of M19 Netherlands Fractal Pattern by Land Forces, the Dutch and then Belgian navies adopted a blue variant, writes Bob Morrison.
~
At time of writing I have not been able to photograph Dutch naval personnel wearing their new camouflage pattern, but at BEDEX 2026 several Belgian navy officers were wearing Naval NFP (Netherlands Fractal Pattern) camouflage patterns and one of them agreed to be photographed for our Kit & Camo section. I snapped him next to a Belgian Army officer wearing MultiCam, which has now replaced Belgian Jigsaw Pattern camo, but as I recently had the opportunity to photograph a Belgian soldier wearing this camo in the field I intend covering this separately.
The naval version of M19 Netherlands Fractal Pattern, which should probably be called M20 NFP as first examples were not fielded until 2020, is just a predominantly blue variant of the three M19 patterns issued to Dutch land forces. It appears to my eye that six colours – blue black, dark blue, blue, dark grey, light grey and black – have been overprinted on a light stone base colour material, but as colours overlap this gives the overall effect of there being more than seven shades. Today’s digital printing techniques make it much easier to produce a wide range of shades with a small number of inks so, unlike in the days of just print screens and mechanical rollers, it is increasingly difficult to tell from the finished product precisely how many or how few individual colours have been used in the process.
In 2021 the Belgian Navy, as announced in late 2019, also started to issue Naval NFP.
¤ For more on Netherlands Fractal Pattern see:-
- New M19 Netherlands Fractal Patterns
- M19 Netherlands Fractal Pattern Update
- New Dutch M19 NFP Camo Kit In The Field
- VOSS ~ First Issue Of New Dutch Personal Equipment
~
