Defence forces not going into battle over camouflage suit pattern

print this

The General Staff at the Finnish Defence Forces do not plan to take up arms in support of the camouflage suit pattern that has been developed for Finnish troops and which has apparently been "borrowed" without permission by the Russian Ministry of the Interior.
      According to FDF spokesman Eero Karhuvaara, even if it were proved that there had been some plagiarism of the M05 design, no steps will be taken.
      Helsingin Sanomat reported on Wednesday (see linked article) that troops of the Russian Ministry of the Interior are suspected of having used the advanced camouflage pattern, developed by the Finns over several years.
      The design, which has excellent properties for disguising the wearer in the forested Finnish landscape, has been given a form of patent protection in the European Union area.
     
Karhuvaara scoffs at the idea that the design could be a "national symbol", pointing to the practical impossibility of preventing others from using the same or very similar models. He notes that Romanian troops already use a camouflage design that is very similar to that worn by British forces, and that desert gear and winter suits are more or less the same wherever one goes.
     
Symbolic values also counted for little when the last lot of field uniforms were ordered in 2007.
      The competition among suppliers was won by a Belgian firm, and the suits were made up in Bangla Desh.
      Things were rather different ten years ago. At that time the Finnish Defence Forces' decision to buy crispbread from a Swedish supplier even led to questions in Parliament.
     
Nowadays the EU demands open competition on public procurements, even though in matters military the line is not always drawn very carefully.
      According to Jouko Tuloisela, a Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Defence's Resource Policy Department, there is no formal requirement to put out items of military materiel to public tender, and camouflage suits are a borderline case, but there are benefits to be had from inviting competing bids, in that the orders - and the possible savings in cost - are quite large.
      Until 2003, the state-owned Valtion Pukutehdas supplied the lion's share of official state clothing, including army uniforms, but the company was wound up in 2004 by a decision from Parliament.
      As Tuloisela puts it: "It is no longer possible in Finland to get down to the same sort of price levels as in the Far East. The trend is that sub-contractors and suppliers come from there."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russians under suspicion for having purloined camouflage design of Finnish Defence Forces´ new combat outfits (12.11.2008)
  Finnish Defence Forces to introduce new combat uniforms (30.1.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat