1975 onwards

Kampfanzug 75 [Combat suit 75]:

The Austrian Anzug 75 [lit. 'suit 75', essentially 'uniform 75'] was the standard combat/field uniform of the Bundesheer [Federal Army] from its adoption in 1975 until replacement by the Anzug 03 in 2003. Based on the earlier Drillichanzug M 59 [training uniform M 59], which was itself heavily inspired by post-war American uniforms, the uniform was produced in a green-brown drab colour (standardised as RAL7013), which had recently been adopted as a 'standard colour' for the Bundesheer, due to its camouflage properties in both the visible and infrared spectra. Designed as a 'layered' system, the idea was that, depending on conditions, more layers of clothing could be added or removed in a linear order. 

In addition to the uniform, the Rustung 75 [equipment 75] made up the webbing component of the Kampfanzug 75. This system is broadly conventional, and is very similar in form to the American M-1967 Modernized Load-Carrying Equipment. For more info on the webbing setup, see below.

Bundesheer Infantryman, c. 1980s:

This is an impression I put together to generally represent the infantry of the Bundesheer during the 1980s. More specifically, this impression represents an anti-tank soldier during his initial conscription term.

Seen here are both the lightweight and heavyweight KAZ 75 field shirts, along with trousers, t-shirt, field cap I (the summer version) and a set of Rustung 75 webbing. On my feet are a pair of heavyweight boots, which are probably not 100% correct, but I don't have a set of the lightweight equivalents. These are also a later set of boots, as identified by the combination eyelet/speed-lace setup (although the exact point at which the change was made is unknown). The webbing is a lighter setup, with only the belt, harness, canteen and magazine pouches being worn. With no rucksack being worn, the supporting straps have been tucked into the loops on the front of the harness, which are also often used to hold a Glock Feldmesser, grenades or a field dressing. 

Slung across the body on my right shoulder is a gas mask bag. This is a KAZ 75 example, made from plain drab material. Inside this is a Drager M65 mask, a filter, a cloth for cleaning the lenses, a pair of gloves and some NBC agent indicating paper. I do not have the poncho in these photographs, but, if I did, it would be rolled up and tied to the back of the webbing belt. 

Also hung from the belt is an M75 Stahlhelm, a locally-made clone of the WW2-era American M1 helmet, produced by HBA [Heeresbekleidunganstallt, or Army Clothing Institute]. This example has a net, standard issue with the KAZ 75, and a camouflaged cover. These covers were not officially issued items, but were made, typically on a quartermaster level, from old items (normally parkas and shelter quarters) that were no longer needed. A great deal of variants exist, but this one was made from a shelter quarter, and features an elasticated band to hold it on the helmet. 

In my arms, I'm holding a Sturmgewehr 77 [Assault Rifle 77], also commonly known by its commercial name, the Steyr AUG. This innovative bullpup rifle, chambered for .223 calibre ammunition, continues to serve the Bundesheer as of 2020, along with a good deal of export customers. I also have a Panzerabwehrrohr 70 [Anti-tank tube 70], which was a single-use, disposable recoil-less gun (calibre 7.4cm) of Swedish design. Although largely ineffective against armour even at the time of introduction, this weapon continued to be issued until at least 2000. 

Austrian Bundesheer Border Security Deployment, c. late-1980s to early-1990s:

This impression represents a soldier of the Bundesheer deployed to the Austrian border right at the end of the Cold War, and in the immediate post-Cold War era. In particular, this setup is based on photographs of Austrian troops securing the passage of NATO vehicles through Austrian territory during the Yugoslav Wars. That said, the only real difference between this setup and earlier ones is the ubiquitous Austrian red-white-red triband brassard, which would previously have just been an armband with no loop to secure it the epaulettes (these earlier variants are very commonly seen during border deployments during the Ten-Day War in Slovenia). 

Over the top of both light- and heavyweight field shirts, the Field Jacket I, a parka clearly based on the American M65 design, is worn for warmth. This example has a velcro strip across the chest, and, beneath the brassard, an Austrian crest, which were added to field shirts, parkas and pullovers from 1992/3 onward, and were retrofitted to earlier-produced examples (this parka was originally made by HBA in 1981). 

The webbing is worn here with the small pack, although the entrenching tool has been left off as these were likely deemed unnecessary for guarding pre-built roadside checkpoints. In order to make sure that the troops were visible at night, small reflectors (printed with the slogan, 'Unser Heer, unsere Sicherheit [Our Army, our Security]) have been clipped onto the loops on the front of the webbing harness. Finally, the helmet, a domestically-produced M75 derivative of the wartime American M1, is worn with a net (in this case, an early M 57 net, as distinguished by its greener colour) but no cover. The rifle is slung over the back, unlikely to be needed at short notice, and a flashlight is held to check passing vehicles.

Rüstung 75 Webbing:

By the 1970s, the FN FAL rifle, while certainly good, no longer fitted with the fashions of the times. With its iron sights, conventional layout and hard-hitting round, it was decidedly old-fashioned. To replace it, the Bundesheer made a radical move and adopted what was the first ever widely-issued bullpup rifle, the Steyr AUG: a polymer-framed, integrated optic bullpup chambered for the .223 intermediate calibre cartridge. While usually considered less glamorous than rifles (to most people), the magazine pouches for the StG 77 were far more advanced than those of the StG 58 as well. Going from traditional twin leather pouches, the pouches for the AUG's transparent polymer magazines were made out of flexible plastic, and were innovatively designed to sit at the waist at an angle, making them far more ergonomic to use than other designs. The only disadvantage to this is that the pouches have to come in pairs of left and right, complicating logistics somewhat. The pouches also have a flap over the top to stop the magazines falling out, fastened with both a popper and a clip. On the back of the pouches are two plastic clips, mounted at an angle, which fit onto the belt (as with MP40 pouches).

A KAZ01 setup of the KAZ 75 webbing, minus the poncho. The additional straps at the front, which would attach to the rucksack if worn, have been tucked into loops on the harness, which were also often used to hold grenades, bandages or the Glock Feldmesser 78 field knife. 

The standard loadout was a single pair of pouches along with a belt/harness system. This system was adopted along with the Feldanzug 75 (Field Suit 75) uniform in 1975, with the whole soldier's loadout being referred to as the Kampfanzug 75 (Kampfanzug translates roughly as battle suit, and refers to both the uniform and web gear. This name is shortened to KAZ 75). Although the official name for the webbing in particular is Rustung 75, it is generally referred to just as KAZ 75, even though this technically includes the uniforms as well. The whole Rustung 75 system consists of:

• Nylon belt with Austrian eagle crest on the buckle (which is, incidentally, virtually impossible to undo if you don't know the correct technique)

  • Webbing harness

  • Large rucksack

  • Small pack

  • Magazine pouches

  • Canteen pouch

  • Entrenchment tool cover.

This equipment was designed to be modular, and could be worn in three different (official) ways, depending on the situation:

• • KAZ01:

    • Belt worn as usual.

    • Harness clipped onto front and rear of belt, with the extra front straps clipped to the magazine pouches.

    • Water bottle worn on right hip.

    • Poncho rolled and tied onto the back of the belt.

  • KAZ02:

    • Same as KAZ01, except the small pack would be worn on the back of the harness, hooked at the top. The straps attached to the magazine pouches are relocated to connect to the bottom of the small pouch.

    • Entrenchment tool/field shovel attached to small pack with the plastic loops.

  • KAZ03:

    • The large rucksack worn attached to the harness, where the small pack was in KAZ02.

    • The small pack fixed onto the plastic clips at the bottom of the large pack, and then fixed to the belt with the belt clips.

    • A sleeping mat would often be carried, rolled up, and then slipped through the straps on the large rucksack.

    • To accommodate the small pack, the poncho is moved from the back of the belt and tied to the large rucksack instead.

The buckle of a KAZ 75 webbing belt, showing the distinctive Austrian Eagle crest. 

In addition to these items, a gas mask bag was worn in one of two ways: over the right shoulder, across the body, to rest at the left hip, where it would be affixed to the belt via a small metal hook, or hooked onto the back of the belt, with the shoulder straps tied out of the way. Gas mask bags were made both in K4 'pea dot' pattern and a greyish olive drab colour, with the cut being identical between the two. The K4 bags remained in limited issue at least as far as 1994, but were rapidly replaced with the grey-olive ones for front line units. The water bottle could be issued with either an old K4-pattern cover, or with a newer, KAZ 75 olive drab cover. The olive drab covers come with KAZ 75 clips to attach them to the belt. However, the K4 covers and belt loop fittings are designed for the old Stolla Wien belts, which were much narrower than the KAZ 75 equivalents, and thus have to be hooked onto a strap somewhere else with the metal clasp on top, rather than slipped on directly. As for entrenchment tool covers, it is far more common to see the olive drab pattern, rather than the K4 ones, which cannot be easily used with the wider belt of the KAZ 75 system.

A KAZ 75 gas mask bag. This is almost identical to the K4-camouflaged equivalent, except for being made from RAL7013-coloured material. 

The various items of KAZ 75 equipment are typically fixed to the belt with either metal clips, not at all dissimilar to those on American ALICE webbing, or, on later examples, plastic ones made by Glock, who would of course later achieve fame for their pistol designs.

A comparison of the early, metal, ALICE-style fittings (R, fitted to a canteen pouch) and the later, Glock-made, plastic clips (L, fitted to a StG 77 magazine pouch). 

The final item is the rain poncho, coloured in the same RAL7013 as seemingly everything else the Bundesheer used. This was rolled up and tied onto the belt with paracord for KAZ01 and KAZ02 setups, and folded up and packed near the top of the large pack (for easy access) in a KAZ03 setup. Earlier photographs sometimes show troops being issued with K4 Zeltbahns instead of olive drab ponchos, but these were superseded in a very short period of time, and were not in service (or not visibly at least) by the early 1990s. 

N.B.: It is important to note, especially from a re-enactor's perspective, that while this describes the 'official' set up for the web gear, it was not at all uncommon for soldiers to wear things differently, changing the harness attachment points to be more comfortable, for example, or wearing their canteen pouches on the rucksack instead of the belt. There are also no shortage of weird and wonderful combinations between the two systems, including M 57 pouches on KAZ 75 belts, M 57 setups worn over KAZ uniforms, and, in a couple of photographs, even KAZ 75 magazine pouches worn with an otherwise standard M 57 setup.

Also, a slight afterword regarding magazine pouches: there were also magazine pouches made to KAZ 75 specifications for the StG 58, out of the same green vinyl, but these do not seem to have been made or issued in very large numbers, and are mainly only seen in photographs in manuals and not in the field. The early harnesses, which are often seen with these magazine pouches, also have a different system for adjustment and affixing to the later examples, with straps and buckles rather than hooks and clips. Rather than these pouches, though, the Stolla Wien leather ones seem to be far more commonly used, even with the KAZ 75 belt. How one is supposed to get those pouches onto the new-style belt is beyond me, I've tried experimenting with mine but I gave up as I didn't want to accidentally damage the pouches or get them stuck.

The label on a KAZ 75 harness.

- Walter

All photos Copyright ©Walter of the London Living History Group.