It took scientists a year to get the right shade – and if truth be told, it might take several more for soldiers to get used to it – but after more than sixty years bearing the same dark yellow colour, the British military is to adopt a new "army brown".

In what is likely to be one of the biggest make-over the forces have undertaken, the army's fleet of desert vehicles is being repainted, replacing the previous 'Light Stone' camouflage that has adorned tanks and troops carriers since before the second world war.

Some of the new Foxhound patrol vehicles being used in Afghanistan have already been re-sprayed with up to 30 litres of the new colour per vehicle, hinting at the scale of the paint job required over the coming years.

The army has around 5,000 combat vehicles – and all conflicts over the last 20 years have taken place in sandy environments.

The scientists who developed it insist 'Army Brown' is the colour of the future, and the paint is clever too. They are working on a formula which will turn it a different shade when chemicals have been detected to warn troops of the dangers around them.

To brown ... the British army is to turn all desert vehicles a new 'army brown' colour. Photograph: guardian.co.uk

"The new colour is a tan brown whereas the old was a dark yellow," said Andrew Richardson from AkzoNobel, the firm which developed it. "It is a dirt colour as opposed to a sand colour. When you are close up there is a significant difference."

Richardson claimed it was the most advanced paint the military had ever used, and is similar to the colours used by the US and Australian militaries.

The Ministry of Defence decided it wanted a change of hue last year, with officers saying they needed something that could work in places such as Afghanistan, but blend in easily in other hot and dusty environments.

Defence officials gathered rock and soil samples back from Afghanistan for a team at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, which came up with the ideal new colour.

AkzoNobel then turned it into a camouflage paint that "will replace the sand colour that has been used on army vehicles since before the Second World War."

Though Richardson said the "new paint colour has been specifically designed for the desert-like environment where most operations currently take place", he insisted it would work elsewhere.

"It transitions very well. It was designed to provide a better balance between desert-like areas and the green zone."

The MoD said the new colour added to the basic range used by the military. Green is used for colder climates - and pink has been used in places such as Saudi Arabia, to help military planes blend in.

However, brown is very much de rigueur for the British military at the moment; after extensive trials involving 3,500 personnel, the army has plumped for a dark chocolate colour for its new combat boots.