Yemen

Republic of Yemen

The Republic of Yemen (الجمهورية اليمنية) was formed in May of 1990 by the amalgamation of the former Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (Yemen (Democratic Republic)). The country has strong political and military ties to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but is primarily supplied with war materiel by China, Russia and North Korea. The country employs a wide variety of camouflage patterns scattered amongst its military and paramilitary forces, including American, British and Egyptian designs, as well as some recent pixelated designs of indigenous origin.

Yemeni Camouflage Patterns

• Certainly the longest-lived camouflage pattern worn by Yemeni forces is the Egyptian two-color desert or "sand" pattern. The pattern was used by airborne & commando forces of the former Yemen Arab Republic and continues to be worn by some units of the Yemeni Armed Forces. All current issue Yemeni uniforms appear to be made in China, and are generally marked with the Yemeni Armed Forces national crest.

• The general issue camouflage pattern of the Yemeni Armed Forces and Police is a variation of British DPM. The design features black, chocolate brown & bright green disruptive shapes on an orange-tan background, and is distinctive when compared to British, New Zealand or other versions.

• Another commonly distributed pattern is a locally-made copy of the US-designed six-color desert pattern (chocolate chip). The Yemeni version has a much darker colorway, incorporating white rocks with black shadow shapes scattered over a background of reddish-brown, orange-tan & dark tan with a sandy base.

• Yemeni Special Forces & Republican Guards wear a unique arid camouflage design having greyish-brown and grey amoebic shapes over a background of tan and stone. The pattern bears a strong resemblance to that worn currently by the Cyprus National Guard, yet the drawings are distinctive and not the same.

• A copy of the US m81 woodland pattern is worn by some members of the Yemeni Police.

• Also worn by the Yemeni Police is an urban or blue DPM pattern, similar to designs commonly encountered in other Arab Gulf States (Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, et al). Several color variations have been observed, including the one seen here with strong purple overtones.

• Circa 2008-2009 Yemen introduced a pixelated pattern with a unique colorway for use by some members of its armed forces. The design incorporates black, reddish brown, dark green & olive green on a pale green background.

• Yemeni Republican Guards and Special Forces also adopted a pixelated pattern circa 2008-2009, using the same colors as their previous organic camouflage.

• Another digital pattern seen recently is this three-color desert variant, incorporating smaller reddish-brown shapes on a background of sand and tan.

• First documented in 2013, a copy of the US desert MARPAT camouflage pattern is now also being fielded by some units of the Yemeni Armed Forces.