EDF Standard Uniform

The Exploration and Defense Fleet outfits all its members with standard uniforms for duty. The uniforms are of an utilitarian design, featuring various pockets and holders for common equipment, as well as limited thermoregulation capabilities. They also feature various markings for assignment and rank of the wearer.

Design and Procurement Process

Designing a uniform which fits all the varied shapes, sizes, and limb configurations of UDSA member species is a logistical challenge often underestimated. Every 2048 UDSA Standard Date units (roughly 20 earth years) the EDF publishes a call for initial proposals for a full renewal of their uniforms. Proposals must include concept designs for 10 different species chosen differently each proposal call.
After a proposal has been chosen, design for all remaining species as necessary is completed in cooperation with the EDF and production is begun for a rollout, typically over a period of 256 standard date units. If any new members join the UDSA which are not compatible with any of the existing uniform variants, the contract requires the uniform designers to add new variants after the fact.

Current Design

The current generation of uniforms is designed by the Hksri organization Ïxdtkrh (/y̰ǃθtkʁ̤ħ/).
The basic outfit consists of black utility legwear with 4-6 pockets depending on variant and a white thermoregulator shirt. Two variants of footwear are included, with light shoes for onboard and indoor use and heavier boots with autosealing interfaces to the uniform legwear for outdoor use. Both the light shoes and boots feature low-power short-duration magnetic attachment functionality in case of ship gravity failure. Depending on variant, the uniform also features an optional black jacket or vest with additional utility pockets which is equipped with similar autosealing functionality to the boots.

Markings

Department assignment is marked by a stripe on one side of the legwear and the jacket or vest as well as color on the inside of the jacket or vest collar. The colors used are:

• White for Command, with an optional secondary color
• Green for Operations
• Red for Tactical
• Dark Gray for Security
• Orange for Engineering
• Purple for Science
• Blue for Medical

Rank insignia are embroidered near the jacket shoulders (exact position varies depending on species), on the shirt collar, and along the department color stripe on the legwear.

Additions

Additional accessories are available on request, for example utility belts with mounts for standard engineering tools, high-visibility and harsh environment overgarments or helmets. These accessories are also marked for department in a similar way to the main uniform where appropriate, however as they are often not permanently used by a single individual they do not feature rank markings.

Previous Iterations

The simplistic design and low amount of color of the current design is sometimes considered a direct response to the previous iteration of the uniform, which featured department colors over most of the uniform and were criticized as "too colorful", "embarrassing" and "a carnival".

Item type

Clothing / Accessory

Weight

varies depending on variant and size

Dimensions

varies depending on variant and size

Base Price

provided free of charge to EDF members