Infantry Combat Equipment (non-firearm): Vests, Body Armor, NVGs, etc.

by78 said:

I believe these are either marines or naval special forces. The soldier on the right wears a different low-visibility patch design that has a light background with dark texts. Not sure if this design is experimental. The patch worn by the soldier in the middle is the standard design.

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aren't they the first version of the patch? they were black on camo pattern first when they were just referred as Xingkong camouflage, then the type 21 uniform came out and they moved on to the yellow on brown patch we see now

These are some of the first pictures we see on the internet when type 21 isn't a thing yet



and some higher resolution pictures that I believe is quite recent




and I found a website in the way that explains difference in iterations of the type 21 uniform if any of us is interested

and that is one weird mag for the dude in the left

YES said:

aren't they the first version of the patch? they were black on camo pattern first when they were just referred as Xingkong camouflage, then the type 21 uniform came out and they moved on to the yellow on brown patch we see now

These are some of the first pictures we see on the internet when type 21 isn't a thing yet
View attachment 106028
View attachment 106029

and some higher resolution pictures that I believe is quite recent
View attachment 106030

View attachment 106031

and I found a website in the way that explains difference in iterations of the type 21 uniform if any of us is interested

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

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Yes, those seem to be the very earliest patch designs. Lately they've almost exclusively settled on patches with gold texts, which is why I wondered if they're still experimenting with different patch designs.

by78 said:

Yes, those seem to be the very earliest patch designs. Lately they've almost exclusively settled on patches with gold texts, which is why I wondered if they're still experimenting with different patch designs.

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oh you mean that's a entirely new design, I mean, I've heard rumours saying there will be a new black on green patch quite a long time ago, like the thing with their name, rank and a bar code they put in front of their chest, but I've never seen any picture about it, and I'd personally think it's not happening (sad, the current version is way too ugly even for my pathetic aesthetic), it's not like if it can spill the bean from 800m-1000m of the standard combating range of a modern infantry squad with the current patch anyways, I mean, if anyone can, they probably should get something from Warhammer 40k to install him onto a radar or something, there's no reason to waste more money or energy on something like this even though it's not 100 percent perfect.

said that though, the only thing I can think of that can drive them to develop a new patch is cost control, probably the same reason they abandon the first version, but, again I'd doubt if they can lower that anymore. Plus the common method for pla to experimenting something like these is to handling these to at least the whole unit, I don't think we've seen anything of only experimenting with one soldier.

so I'd say it's probably bad lighting to let it look as if they were something new, but, there's not enough proof to either point yet, so I guess we just have to hope they can change the design before it's too late

The relatively less seen desert camouflage.

I'm cross posting this post from the PLA News thread since it showcases the new helmet with the new mount in Mali. I believe this is the first time that they used this helmet overseas:

luosifen said:

I assume these vehicles are PLA domestic quality and not downgraded export level?

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Also, in the top image, they seem to be using brass case deflectors which I at least have never seen them use before.

LawLeadsToPeace said:

Also, in the top image, they seem to be using brass case deflectors which I at least have never seen them use before.

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Don’t want red hot casing flying around in a confined space?

vincent said:

Don’t want red hot casing flying around in a confined space?

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That's most likely the main reason behind the use of those deflectors. Based on the footage, they put it on when inside and take it off when outside thanks to its bulkiness, and that must be a inner-unit tactic and procedure they came up with during deployment given how we have never seen it in the mainland.

An interesting image showing off the effectiveness of the tundra/arid camouflage.

LawLeadsToPeace said:

Also, in the top image, they seem to be using brass case deflectors which I at least have never seen them use before.

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Looks like brass collector usually seen in conjunction with blank adapter, but this time without the bag attached.

PLA Ground Airforce Unit.