Strichtarn — Strichmuster, line pattern — was adopted by the East German National People’s Army in 1965 as the Kampfanzug 64, replacing the earlier Flächentarn blotch pattern, which continued in parallel production until 1970. The design draws from a lineage of Wehrmacht-era rain patterns — Splittermuster, Sumpftarn — and closely parallels the Czech vz. 60 Jehličí and Polish Wz.58 Deszczyk, all Warsaw Pact nations working from the same visual logic: broken vertical strokes that dissolve a silhouette in rain and shadow. Two types were produced: the original thin-stroke version (1965–67) and a revised thicker-stroke version from 1968 that remained in production until German reunification in 1990. Beyond the NVA, East Germany exported the pattern in large quantities to communist movements across Africa — FAPLA, FRELIMO, SWAPO, UNITA — where it became known as rice fleck. It also saw use by Croatian forces during the Yugoslav Wars, South African Special Forces during the Border War, and successor state militaries across Central Asia into the 2000s.
