Current Digital Desert uniforms

A few current Spanish army and Marines uniforms.

First up  Infanteria de Marina ( Marines ) uniform, belt and T shirt.

                                                                                       
                                                                                     

                                                                                      

                                                                                     

                                                                                     

                                                                                      

Short sleeve Army shirt and trousers, harness and belt.

                                                                                   

                                                                                            

                                                                                             

Army blouse and trousers, boonie and patrol cap.                                                                   


                                                                                     

                                                                                      


S

Very cool stuff! I've never seen the Marina blouse versus the army one, nice to see the differences.

Yeah, first I've seen of the Marina version as well. Does the rest of the Navy also use it? Traditionally they use the same basic uniform with modified insignia.

I'm surprised there is a variant of the standard uniform. Spain has been moving away from variants due to costs.

Are there any tags to show off with the Marina version?

Also nice to see the parade pistol belt and suspenders. Not often seen.

Steve

Me too.

Never saw one before this one.  No info on Navy unit swearing this cut, but  would make sense that Navy personnell deployed with  Infanteria Marina would wear the same uniform at least when deployed.

It came from a US Marine , of course. Have heard US Marines and Spanish Marines work well together.   Spain does have the world's oldest marine corps .

Sadly tags are absent in the blouse ; trousers tag is  completely washed out .

Looks like there are at least 2 temperate cuts ( lightweight shirt, ACU type blouse ), and 3 desert cuts ( lightweight, ACU type , Infanteria Marina type ). Trousers look identical.

Pistol  belt is similar to US design, but only one side has size  adjustment hardwear.

Very ingenious and cost reducing. That part of the belt is well made.

Pity belt and harness have cheap black painted metal hardwear which will fail in serious field use .
That alone relagates it to the parade ground. Still very cool and surprisingly comfortable ( without a load ) due to padded yoke ..


S

Since the introduction of post Franco camo uniforms to Spain the Navy and Marines wore the same uniform. Similar to USMC for a long time, the only difference was the IM logo printed over the left breast pocket. The Navy wears their rank in the same spot, Marines on the collar. This was true for the old Woodland, the ripstop Woodland, and the 4 color Desert. Not sure if this carried over to the digital as I'm a little out of touch with that particular uniform.

Shame the labels are worn out! Spanish labels contain good info.

Yup, the Marines have a permanent base in Spain for... 6? or so years now. It's a rapid reaction force designed to cover the Med and Africa. Very close working relationship with the Spanish.

The previous Spanish Army camo uniforms, going back into the 1990s, have had the short sleeve two pocket shirt as standard issue. Both temperate and desert. Same goes for the current digital type. I've always assumed its primary function was for garrison use.

Yup, no sense pumping money into ruggedizing kit that is explicitly designed for parade use only. I've got the older Woodland and 6 Color Desert versions. Er, and maybe the Digital Desert one too. I forget There's a limited number of things that were made to be worn with it. Off the top of my head, CETME/HK dual mag pouch, pistol holster, pistol clip pouch, and shovel cover. Like the belt and suspenders, they are explicitly designed for parade use. Look great, but would not last a week in the field!

Steve

Oh, I just noticed that the desert under armor shirt has different arm pockets. There's a large tab on the pocket flap that appears permanently exposed, a hole for a pen? in the flap, and velcro on the entire pocket surface. I hadn't noticed that before, but for some reason under armor shirts seem to always have different arm details than the uniforms they compliment.

Steve

Spanish Marines are issued blouses that resemble the cut of US Marines blouses.

Spanish Army and Air Force units wear a blouse that resembles the cut of ACU blouses.


                                                                     

                                                   
                                                                     







S

Found a few images of Spanish Marines wearing temperate uniforms.

Lots of images showing desert camo , but very few with temperate pattern.


                                                                           

                                                                           

                                                                          



S

Took a closer look at the trousers of both desert sets ( Marines type and ACU type ) and it is obvious the trousers each have small differences between them.

Although the differences are rather minor, and there are many similarities, these trousers are 2 distinct different types..
Belt loops are thicker on the marine trousers and adjustment cinches are seen above the rear pockets .  Knee articulation is different as well.
Inner waist and pockets are also different and there is a reinforcement panel sown into the butt of the Marines type that is absent in the other trousers.
Leg ties are present on the Marines version.  The other trousers do not have leg ties, but there is a channel for them and they could have been there and removed at some point.

I've noticed the cargo pockets of the Marines version have had the bellows on the pocket sown to prevent max expansion.  Not certain one way or another whether that is official or simply a personal mod.








                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                   


                                                                                                

                                                                                                 

                                                                                                 


S