That is what I sort of thought too. I have not seen any new ponchos, ACU or MARPAT other than the commercial ones. No issue items.

That is too bad. I used my poncho in the army for shelters, for rainwear and with the liner as a sleeping bag. A 5x7 tarp is pretty small to make a shelter that will cover you in a driving rain. A tarp also cannot be used as a rain garment. It also requires you to carry additional gear in the form of Gore-Tex rainwear.

Seems about every decade or so the military has to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes the new gear is an improvement and sometimes it makes you wonder "what were they thinking".

Stock up on genuine ponchos if you can find them. I have not seen any commercial copies that compare, for the money.