Exclusive: First Look at Army's New Combat Pants

Soldiers headed to Afghanistan will soon wear rugged new combat pants designed to stand up to the country's unforgiving terrain.

In April, the Army will begin issuing early versions of what it's calling the "Army Combat Pant" to deploying units. This robust style of tactical pants has long been a favorite of special operations forces and features built-in knee protection.

Program Executive Office Soldier awarded commercial contracts last September to Crye Precision LLC, Massif and Propper International to produce 36,000 pairs of combat pants so the Army can start fielding them to deploying units as soon as possible.

"The Army Combat Pant came about based on feedback from soldiers in Afghanistan, which is an extremely [harsh] environment that causes rapid wear on our trousers," said Lt. Col. Eugene Wallace, Product Manager for Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment.

PEO Soldier has made multiple improvements to the regular-issue Army Combat Uniform pants such as reinforcing the fabric and sewing in the crotch, seat, and knees before considering the combat pants preferred by special operations units, uniform officials said. These specialized pants feature a roomier design for aggressive movement, abrasion-resistant material and molded knee pads that attach in a fitted knee pocket.

In addition to the initial fielding of 36,000 pairs, the Army will conduct a limited-user evaluation this summer to finalize the design of the Army Combat Pant.

In September, the service awarded a contract to ReadyOne Industries, a National Institute for the Severely Handicapped organization based in El Paso, Texas, to produce 1,000 pairs of the combat pants in five separate designs that feature different blends of materials and two knee-pad styles, said Maj. Beire Castro, assistant program manager for SCIE. The two types of knee pads being tested are made by Crye Precision and Patagonia.

Uniform officials have not selected the unit that will evaluate the designs, but it will likely be an outfit that is scheduled to go through a demanding Mission Rehearsal Exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., or the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, La.

"We want to be able to replicate, as close as possible, the conditions and the wear rate that soldiers would experience" in Afghanistan, Castro said.

The soldiers participating in the evaluation - which could take up to 60 days to complete - will fill out surveys to identify the best features that will be incorporated into one design, Castro said.

"The results of the surveys will tell us the best characteristics of the pants that eliminate all the challenges we are trying to address such as fabric ripping in the crotch or the knee area or the seat area," Castro said. "Once we develop that design that will be the final design of the Army Combat Pant, and we will go out to industry and have them produce it."

The limited-production versions of the Army Combat Pants scheduled for fielding in April cost $150 to $200 each. Comparatively, the standard ACU pants cost about $86 each. Once the design is finalized, uniform officials said they hope the new pants will end up costing $100 to $125 each.