Universal Camouflage Pattern The Universal Camouflage Pattern ( UCP ) , also referred to as ACUPAT ( Army Combat Uniform PATtern ) or Digital Camouflage ( " digicam " ) is the military camouflage pattern currently in use in the United States Army ' s Army Combat Uniform . The pattern was chosen after several laboratory and field tests that occurred from 2003 to 2004 , although it has recently been established that UCP may well have been adopted without field testing against other patterns . Its pixelated pattern is a modification of the United States Marine Corps ' MARPAT camouflage pattern which is simply a re - coloured version of the earlier Canadian CADPAT scheme . However , UCP was not well received and is likely to be withdrawn after seven years in service . Selection . Phase I . Initial patterns and colors . Three patterns were developed , called " All Over Brush " , " Track " , and " Shadow / Line . " For each pattern , there were four color combinations , which corresponded to a specific type of terrain , however , all four patterns used tan as their base color . The three remaining colors were green , brown , and black for the Woodland pattern , dark tan , khaki , and brown for the Desert pattern , light gray , medium gray , and black for the Urban pattern , and dark tan , light gray , and brown for the Desert / Urban pattern . Test sites . There were a total of fifteen evaluations , which took place at Fort Benning , Fort Polk , Fort Irwin , Fort Lewis , and Yakima , Washington . The camouflage patterns were then rated on their blending , brightness , contrast , and detection by US Army Soldiers , during the daytime , and also at night using night vision device s . Elimination of patterns . Following testing , the Shadow Line pattern was eliminated entirely , along with the urban and desert / urban patterns of All Over Brush . All four of the Track patterns were accepted along with All Over Brush ' s woodland and desert patterns . Phase II & III . The patterns were then modified and tested alongside a newly introduced " Contractor - Developed Mod " pattern , MultiCam . Near Infrared testing determined that black , medium gray , and medium tan were the only colors that gave acceptable performance . Phase IV ( system level ) . All four remaining patterns , desert Brush , MultiCam , Woodland Track , and Urban Track were then tested alongside each other in urban , woodland , and desert environments . Results . The desert Brush design received the best overall mean daytime visual rating . Contractor developed pattern received highest rating in woodland environments , but low ratings in desert and urban environments . Urban Track was generally the 3rd or 4th worst performer at each site , but was the best performer in nighttime environments . Infrared testing showed negligible differences in the performance of the four patterns . Natick rated the patterns from best to worst as : Desert Brush , Woodland Track Mod , Contractor - Developed Mod , and Urban Track . Color selection . The color scheme of the Army Combat Uniform is composed of a gray ( officially named Urban gray 501 ) , tan ( Desert sand 500 ) and sage green ( Foliage green 502 ) digital pattern . The pattern is noticeable for its elimination of the color black . Justification given for the omission of black was that black is a color not commonly found in nature , however this appeared to ignore the artificial digital nature of the design , also not found in nature . Pure black , when viewed through night vision goggles , can appear excessively dark and create an undesirable high - contrast image . This argument was not accepted by the Canadian forces or the USMC when they adopted the proceeding CADPAT and MARPAT patterns respectively . Controversy . The U . S . Army reported to the media that the basis for the UCP was the Urban Track pattern , which had been modified through the removal of black from the pattern and pixelated . Why the Urban Track pattern was used , given that it received the poorest ratings in visual detection from the Natick Soldier Center ' s testing , was unexplained . The U . S . Army ' s public explanation of UCP ' s origin has been shown to be false , as visual comparisons of pattern samples have shown the UCP to be simply a re - colored version of the U . S . Marine Corps ' MARPAT scheme , which in turn was based on the earlier Canadian CADPAT camouflage pattern . A more recent explanation provided by the development team is one of political interference . Apparently they were advised to take the colours of the winning pattern and combine it with a pixelated pattern . This is unlikely to be a full explanation as the UCP colour scheme bears little resemblance to any version of the winning " desert Brush " scheme . The omission of black in the color palette has been the subject of much debate . Black is generally perceived in camouflage schemes as shadow and a degree of black , or an alternative dark color ( e . g . brown in desert patterns ) , invariably enhances a pattern ' s disruptive effect . Some Soldiers have reported that the pattern is less than ideal in most environments , particularly jungle and tropical terrain . As the U . S . Army is currently involved in the Middle East , the uniform may have been biased towards the current operating environments . When passed by the Senate , House of Representatives Bill 2346 required the Department of Defense to " take immediate action to provide combat uniforms to personnel deployed to Afghanistan with a camouflage pattern that is suited to the environment of Afghanistan . ” The Army is currently evaluating alternative camouflage patterns to determine if this was a necessary action . In recent tests conducted by the U . S . Army ' s Natick Soldier Center , results indicated that three other patterns did significantly better than UCP in desert and woodland environments . Currently four commercial submissions are being tested to replace UCP for Army use . Cancellation of UCP and replacement . The United States Army is cancelling the Universal Camouflage Pattern and considers the $ 5 billion program to be a colossal mistake . The pattern has been determined to be very ineffective and has been widely unpopular amongst the rank and file for years . Army researchers are currently working on a new and better camouflage . Four new patterns are being tested to give soldiers different patterns suitable for different environments , plus a single neutral pattern , to be used on more expensive body armor and other gear . The selection will involve hundreds of computer trials as well on - the - ground testing at half a dozen locations around the world . The new camouflage patterns are scheduled to be put into field use by the end of 2013 or 2014 .