Ukraine's Defence Ministry tests new MM-25 camouflage pattern: trial batch procurement will take place

Ukraine's Defence Ministry has approved a new camouflage pattern, MM-25, which will be used for the production of uniform items.

Source: Ukraine's Defence Ministry; BBC; former Ukrainian Defence Ministry advisor Dana Yarova

Details: The decision was made in June 2025 at the request of Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and following many appeals from service members. This is not a replacement for the current MM-14 (pixel) pattern but an additional option, similar to the already approved "olive", "coyote" and MM-16F patterns. The new design is intended to improve concealment in certain conditions and meet the needs of troops who are already using similar patterns, sometimes at their own expense.

The Central Logistics Development Directorate has updated the technical specification A01XJ.29979-539:2025 (02) "Cotton and blended fabrics", adding the new MM-25 camouflage pattern. The directorate says that over ten manufacturers have expressed interest in reviewing the pattern and its colour palette.

"Our goal is to provide the military with the necessary uniforms and equipment and to create conditions so Ukrainian producers can officially supply the army with essential material assets," said Lieutenant Colonel Maksym Kaiola, Chief of the Central Logistics Development Directorate.

The Defence Ministry’s procurement agency DOT has launched a tender process for the first trial batches of products featuring MM-25. In 2025, they plan to purchase 20,000 pieces of items with the new camouflage to assess production capacity and gradually integrate the pattern into the Armed Forces' supply system.

Quote from Mykyta Chichkan, Director of the DOT Gear and Clothing programme: "We understand that the new requirements for supply pose a challenge both for the customer and manufacturers. After receiving the military's request, we initiated the procurement of five items covered by these updated standards. Our aim is for troops to receive clothing that meets their real needs and for manufacturers to be able to fulfil these orders to a high standard."

Details: The Defence Ministry expects the new pattern to offer more options for combat units and open up opportunities for producers already working with similar printing and tailoring technologies.

The statement about the new MM-25 camouflage pattern appeared on 29 July on the website of the ministry's Central Logistics Development Directorate.

Militarnyi, a Ukrainian military news outlet, citing specialised resources Boroshno News and First Division, said MM-25 is essentially a copy of the world-famous MultiCam pattern.

Former Defence Ministry advisor Dana Yarova criticised the ministry's initiative, arguing that MultiCam's popularity is not due to the pattern but to the quality of the fabric.

Quote from Yarova: "Troops wear MultiCam not because it looks better or blends better with terrain, but because the fabric is different: lighter, breathable and able to withstand stress and it doesn't rot on the body after 48 hours in a dugout.

And now the Ministry of Defence is proposing to keep the existing fabric and just recolour the pattern. Because it's easier to make money by changing the colour than by innovating."

Details: Yarova also noted that manufacturing fabric with this pattern is significantly more expensive, as MultiCam uses seven colours compared to five in the pixel pattern. She said only one manufacturer in Ukraine currently has the technical capacity to produce such fabric and full production retooling could take up to a year.

Meanwhile, Yurii Hudymenko, Head of the Anti-Corruption Council at the Defence Ministry, told the BBC that over the past year and a half, several units, including military intelligence, had sent requests to the General Staff and the ministry for official supplies of uniforms with this pattern. Now, following the ministry's decision, they will be able to receive the necessary uniform sets from the state.

He also pointed out that the differences between the pixel and MM-25 patterns are not only visual but also concern the fabric, usage conditions, types of missions and even frontline identification.

"For special forces, it's both a protective element and a status symbol, which I say as a former serviceman myself. For example, regular ground troops wear pixel camouflage, while special forces wear MultiCam. There is a rule like that on the line of contact. It's an important element for identifying special units," Hudymenko emphasised.

For reference: In 2014, the Defence Ministry announced the transition to a new camouflage pattern, MM-14 "pixel". It replaced the Soviet oak leaf pattern and was modelled on Western forces camouflage designs. Since its introduction, all material kit has been produced in the pixel pattern, including military uniforms.

Unlike the blurred shapes of the oak leaf, the new pattern consisted of pixelated squares in shades of swamp green, grey-green, dark grey and light green on a beige-sand background. A separate version with dark blue colours was developed for the Navy.

MM-14 was designed to provide camouflage in urban, forest and steppe environments. Its main purpose is to blur the soldier's silhouette at various distances and to make detection more difficult, including by night vision devices.

MM-25 (short for "camouflage pattern 2025") is stylistically similar to the US MultiCam pattern. This camouflage was developed by Crye Precision in 2002 for the US armed forces. It consists of seven colours and is used across different terrains to provide adaptive concealment.

Ukrainian troops are already using uniforms with a similar pattern, often purchasing them at their own expense due to the fabric's comfort and suitability for combat conditions.

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