Egypt

Arab Republic of Egypt

Egypt became a British protectorate following the end of First World War, but the revolution of 1919 led to its being declared an independent state, one of the first nations in Africa to achieve this status in the twentieth century. The present Republic came into being in 1953 and was followed shortly thereafter by a brief union with Syria known as the United Arab Republic (1958–61).

The modern Egyptian armed forces have been involved in numerous crises and wars since independence, including the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Egyptian Revolution of 1952, Suez Crisis, North Yemen Civil War, Six-Day War, Nigerian Civil War, War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, Egyptian bread riots, 1986 Egyptian conscripts riot, Libyan–Egyptian War, Gulf War, War on Terror, Egyptian Crisis, Second Libyan Civil War, War on ISIL and the Sinai insurgency.

Egypt’s first post-war involvement was the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which ended with Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip. This was followed by the Suez Crisis in 1956, resulting in Israeli occupation of the Suez Canal. In the early 1960s, the nation became involved in the North Yemen Civil War (1962–70) on the side of the Yemeni republicans. Egypt became further embroiled in the Six-Day War (1967) with Israel, during which the Gaza strip was lost.

The October War (Yom Kippur War) of 1973 lasted only nineteen days, but allowed Egypt to regain some of the Suez territory previously occupied by Israel. A peace treaty signed with Israel in 1979 resulted in complete Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai as well as the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) which has maintained a continuous presence there since.

A series of regime changes occurred between 2011 and 2014, beginning with the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak and the adoption of new constitutional referendum in 2012. New president Mohammed Morsi was instantly unpopular due to his association with the Muslim Brotherhood. Violence ensued in December 2012, resulting in another temporary coup d’etat and interim government. A new constitution was finally approved in 2014 and former military general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was overwhelmingly elected president, under protest from the Muslim Brotherhood and secular activist groups.

The Egyptian Armed Forces (القوات المسلحة المصرية) today consist of four branches: the Army, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Forces. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior has its own paramilitary and police forces, including the Egyptian National Police (الشرطة الوطنية المصرية), the Central Security Forces (قوات الأمن المركزي), and additional specialized police units for drug enforcement, anti-terrorist operations, border protection, and the protection of antiquities and tourist sites.

Egyptian Camouflage Patterns

• One of the earliest camouflage patterns produced in Egypt is frequently called the "rocks" pattern (often to discern it from the "sand" pattern), which is believed to have emerged in 1956. The design can be seen to derive from the German WW2 "Planetree" pattern (hence is sometimes called "Egyptian Plane Tree"), although certainly the Egyptian version is much more crude. Variability within production runs is considerable, even more so when factoring in that the pattern remained in production well into the 1990s period. The "rocks" pattern is nearly always printed on one side of a reversible fabric, with a two-color desert "sand" pattern (see below) on the other side. This practice continued into the later years of its production, but comtemporary uniforms were no longer designed to be worn reversibly; they were either sewn together with the "rocks" or the "desert" side out. This pattern is generally associated only with Airborne and Commando units. Egyptian manufacturers have exported this pattern to Sudan, Somalia, Niger, Libya, and Yemen, among others. Seen below are several variations of the pattern, giving a cross-section of tremendous variability between early and late production.

• Another very early pattern, also dating to around 1956, is the "oakleaf" camouflage. This design is unquestionably copied from the German WW2 Waffen SS Beringt-Eichenlaubmuster (ringed oakleaf), although again the printing is much more crude than the original. It appears the first design (below, left), reversing to the "sand" pattern, was primarily printed on lightweight canvas tents and heavierweight shelters, although it has also been observed in units worn as helmet covers. A second variation (right), also reversible, was also produced on uniforms in addition to shelters.

• The reverse side of both the "rocks" and "oakleaf" patterns was the two-color desert or "sand" camouflage pattern. Incorporating dark or reddish-brown spots on a sandy background, the pattern is a bit more consistent than the "rocks" design, although there are still a number of variations. Although the specific date of adoption is unclear, examples have been in use since at least 1961. This camouflage design is also associated primarily with elite units of the Egyptian armed forces, and modern variations continue in usage to the present day.

• During the 1960s and well into the 1970s, while Egypt was a member of the United Arab Republic (U.A.R.), certain Egyptian textile factories produced a series of "vertical stripe" camouflage designs, possibly influenced by similar patterns worn in Libya and Syria. Uniforms in these patterns were certainly exported to Palestinian units, but may also have been worn locally by elite formations of the Egyptian Armed Forces - most likely the Egyptian Republican Guard. Some color variations are known, with brown ranging from orange-rust to chocolate, while the greens can range from bright kelly green to more of a blue-green. Similar designs were also being produced in Syria at around the same time, although with slightly altered color palettes.

• Slightly later versions of the "vertical stripe" camouflage design were produced in the 1980s. The pattern from this era incorporates dense vertical brown and dark green stripes on a pale green background, although several variations have been documented. Photographic evidence suggests may only have been worn by units of the Republican Guard (قوات الحرس الجمهوري). This design would be phased out by early 2000s.

• Introduced into service in the mid-1980s was a completely unique desert pattern, often nicknamed "scrambled eggs." The earliest variation has a much denser concentration of colorful shapes and is therefore generally termed "dense desert" pattern. Due to the limited number of surviving examples, it is theorized this dense version was fairly short-lived. Examples were worn during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-91) but usually only field jackets.

• A variation of the Egyptian desert (scrambled eggs) pattern appears to have just entered service around the time of the First Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm), where it was widely worn by Egyptian personnel deploying to protect Kuwait. This version has a much more sparse concentration of overprinted shapes, and is therefore nicknamed "sparse desert" pattern. As with most Egyptian-produced camouflage designs, there seems to be considerable variability both to the dye lots and the basic fabric color (background) employed when printing this design. At least four versions are known, with either sand/tan, pale green, pale blue, or medium grey background colors, although the earliest versions from the 1990s all seem to have a basic sand or tan-colored background. The design was also exported and used by Somalia and Sudan.

• Another variation of the above "sparse desert" pattern contains no green elements at all. This version was worn by some Egyptian Forces during the First Gulf War, but surviving examples suggest it was a short-lived variation. Most likely, fabric printed in error was utilized in order to outfit as many Egyptian personnel deploying to Kuwait.

• Appearing at some point after 1992 was an Egyptian copy of the USA m81 woodland pattern. The original Egyptian version featured a considerably darker coloration, with less contrast between the colors employed. Apparently not a general purpose pattern, its use has been documented on Egyptian military personnel serving abroad in temperate regions (as with UN missions) or with visiting foreign students, and in limited service with some personnel (such as the Republican Guard) at home.

• The use of "scrambled eggs" desert camouflage by Egyptian forces continued well into the early 21st century, although there appears to have been some additional variation to the later printings of the background color, taking on a more greenish or even greyish overtone, rather than the original yellowish-sand color. This pattern was still being worn in 2012.

• Another pattern produced by Egypt is a variation of the American-designed six-color desert ("chocolate chip") camouflage pattern. The locally-produced version features rather a different color scheme than the original, incorporating orange, dark khaki & russet waves over a sandy background, with black & light tan "spots." Uniforms in this pattern have been worn by Egyptian military personnel serving in Afghanistan and the Western Sahara, as well as elsewhere.

• Another variation of the m81 woodland camouflage design has appeared in more recent years, and is employed locally. Featuring much brighter colors than the previous design, this pattern appears to be printed on lighter-weight, ripstop fabric.

• A "true" copy of the US-designed m81 woodland camouflage pattern has been worn by airborne and special operations personnel of the Egyptian Army and Navy. Modern uniform styles predominate.

• Issued concurrently with the above copy of US m81 woodland camouflage is this variant, utilizing a similar color palette but completely unique set of shapes. Although having similarities to the Chinese PLA Type 87 Woodland design, the two do not seem to be identical, despite the fact that contemporary Egyptian uniforms all seem to be sourced in China.

• Circa 2011-12 some Egyptian units began appearing in a locally-produced copy of the US tricolor desert camouflage pattern. As with the locally-made six-color desert, the design seems to be only based on the US pattern, with both specific shapes and coloration differing from the American model.

• Some Egyptian Navy personnel wear a woodland-style camouflage pattern with a blue colorway, seen here. This pattern appears very similar to commercially-produced "colorful" designs available in the USA and elsewhere, and may have been copied or influenced by such patterns.

• Another camouflage design, using a more leaf pattern type set of drawings with a pale-blue/lavender colorway, has also been adopted by the Egyptian Navy. The two designs may be used interchangeably.

• Starting in 2014 special police units were observed wearing a dark four-colored pixelated uniform. This uniform seems to be short lived and has possibly already been replaced.

• Circa 2015, the Egyptian Air Force, or Al-Qūwāt al-Gawwīyä al-Miṣrīyä (القوات الجوية المصرية), adopted a copy of the US Air Force's "grey digital tiger stripe" camouflage pattern. Produced either locally, or from imported sources, the design seems to be a faithful copy of the American version.

• Special Police units of the Ministry of the Interior have been observed wearing a DPM pattern camouflage helmet cover, seen here. These items are of undetermined origins.

• Members of the 412th Airborne Brigade (and possibly the 117th Special Forces Regiment) have been documented wearing a copy of the Italian Army vegetato camouflage pattern for some operations.

• Officers of the Egyptian Army have been documented on several occasions wearing field jackets made from French CE Woodland pattern camouflage fabric. These jackets have been in circulation since at least 2016.

• The same two-tone black/grey camouflage pattern worn by Iraqi SWAT Team personnel is worn by the Egyptian Central Security Forces (قوات الأمن المركزي). It is believed the pattern was developed in China for export, and quite possible the Egyptian uniforms are also made in China given recent trends.

• Elements of the Egyptian police uses this unique two-color camouflage uniform which started to appear in 2018.

• Several Egyptian special operations units utilize Multicam pattern camouflage, including some units of the Army Airborne Corps, units of the 153rd Naval Commando Group, and the "Black Cobra" counter-terrorist unit of the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior.

• Circa 2019, the Egyptian Republican Guard (قوات الحرس الجمهوري) adopted a copy of the MARPAT camouflage design, originally developed for the US Marine Corps. Printed in China, the design incorporates a similar color scheme to the original, but with darker overall tones, and lacks the EGA symbol embedded into it.

• The Egyptian Navy replaced its earlier leaf-woodland hybrid designs in 2019 with a pixelated pattern having a very dark color palette of primarily midnight blue. Similar to the US Navy's original NWU-1 pattern, the pattern is much darker from a distance, with only sparse patches of lighter hues.

• Egyptian Police personnel serving with FPUs (Formed Police Units) on a UN mission to the Central African Republic were observed wearing a copy of USMC MARPAT in 2021.

Export Camouflage Patterns

Although Egypt has historically been known to export its own camouflage designs to many other countries (some examples include the Yemen Arab Republic, militias in Lebanon, Somalia and Sudan), evidence also suggests that some camouflage not used by Egyptian military or paramilitary units but produced in country has also been exported. In particular, a line of vertical lizard camouflage designs of Egyptian origin can be linked to the PLO, as well as various paramilitary units in Lebanon and South West Africa. As there is no documentation supporting the use of these patterns by Egyptian forces, we must presently conclude the patterns were only produced for export. Some (very early) examples are marked "UAR," suggesting these were produced prior to 1971, although the more common examples were produced considerably later.