Posted : Monday Jun 14, 2010
MultiCam camouflage uniforms for Afghanistan will be more expensive to produce than the Army Combat Uniform, following a multiyear trend of rising uniform costs, according to a Government Accountability Office report.
The May 28 report — “War-fighter Support: Observations on DoD’s Ground Combat Uniforms” — shows that uniform costs for all services have increased from “about $223 million in fiscal 2005 to about $422 million in fiscal year 2009.”
Most of the cost increases are because of the need for fire-resistant fabrics to protect troops from burns and permethrin insect-repellent treatment, the report states.
Flame resistant, permethrin-treated uniforms in MultiCam will cost about $174 per set, the study states. The equivalent set of ACUs costs about $152, the study states.
Production and procurement costs make up about 95 percent of the cost of camouflage uniforms, the report states.
“The Army indicated that there currently is only one printer licensed by the MultiCam supplier resulting in potentially higher printing costs than expected,” the report states. “An Army official recently stated that the MultiCam supplier is in the process of increasing the number of manufacturers licensed to print the camouflage pattern.”
Officials expect the uniform price to decrease once there are more manufacturers, according to the report.
