I ran across this on Facebook where it came from imgur. Fancy. Amazing how GIGN is equipped.
h/t spartan117gw
Tags: GIGN
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Why does he have a holographic sight mounted on the side of his helmet? Did he just attach everything he could to every rail he owns? Also, I don’t see how he can get much done with an iPhone in front of his face like that.
Thats a PETZL STRIX tactical light, not an optic.
Also, that’s probably an NVG device of some type.
Glad you shared your expertise though.
It’s a Petzl helmet light.
That’s not an iPhone, those are LUCIE night vision goggles.
I think that’s a helmet light.
Not an iphone – it’s a Thales LUCIE
I don’t care what you know-it-all’s say, that looks like a phone case to me. For tactical Facebook status updates.
He doesn’t – it’s a white light. Plus two more on his P90.
I’m thinking he wouldn’t have two white lights but a white light and another IR light?
Isn’t that a FAMAS – instead of a P90?
I would say P90. You can see the magazine floor plate above the barrel.
I’m not surprised given that they are/were the equivalent to the FBI HRT. Even the FBI enhanced swat teams and Marshals SOG seem to be pretty well equipped. It’s hard to figure out if they are the direct equivalent or if RAID is. Trying to understand where the boundaries overlap is difficult but I believe for metropolitan France which I assume is Paris and it’s bordering towns/cities, RAID is their HRT and everywhere else it’s GIGN. Do you have any info on exactly what this guy is equipped with?
Metropolitan France is the parts of France that are located in Europe.
Oh that explains it completely.
RAID is from Pólice and works all over France.
BRI are from Pólice Judiciare and have regional branchs.
GIGN is from Gendarmerie and works all over France.
GIPN are from Gendarmerie and have regional branchs.
FIPN is a joint command and puts together GIPN, RAID and BRI for big situations (like these)
PS: Probably some mistakes, but more or less 🙂
I would add, that GIGN is a part of Gendarmerie, which is a part of Armed Forces, under command of Army officer (currently – Army General). But in the same time, it’s funded by Ministry of the Interior. Main jurisdiction territory of Gendarmerie in everyday situations is rural areas.
GIPN stands for “Groupes d’Intervention de la Police Nationale”. It’s special forces team of National Police, which is not military organization, and it’s main jurisdiction territory is urban areas.
RAID is almost the same thing.
BRI, as said above, is a part of Pólice Judiciare (Judical Police) which is responsible for serious crime. It has its branches in large cities of France, where significant organized crime exists. And it’s not just a special teams.
Together, GIPN, RAID and BRI forming FIPN.
Therefore, it’s pretty hard to project their duties onto US law enforcement system.
Is it just me or is that Aimpoint mounted 45 degrees crooked?
Lens cover.
it’s not the lens cover he’s referring to – look at the windage and elevation knobs. they’re rotated relative to the vertical axis of the weapon.
Should make zeroing fun..
Ahh, yes I see it now.
Optic not seated property in the mount.
I guarantee you that it’s seated properly, it’s likely not an Aimpoint.
Jesus these guys are SF quality, and France has some of the best SF forces in the world. If you guys think that all frenchies are pussies, and their military is too, you clearly need to read and travel more.
Gotta love a unit that uses .357 Magnum revolvers!
The LUCIE looks fancy: having used it, I’d stick with conventional NVG like 5050, -15A or -31.
To be clear:
In french gendarmerie there is ( from the most powerfull to the less)
-gign
– pi2g, pspg, gpiom
– pi
-psig
In french police:
– raid ( fipn)
-gipn (fipn)
-bri (fipn)
-bi ( only in paris and fipn to)
-bac
Only the gign and the raid can go all over the french country but the raid still only used in police circonscription.
Yeah, Lucie is now pretty old school. It’s a single tube / Bi-occular system (like PVS-7) with a wider field of view than PVS-7/14 but with some distortion (there’s a bit of a fish-eye effect).
For those wondering about french tac units, there’s been a lot of changes over the last few years.
There’s now basicaly two forces, one with the Gendarmerie Nationale (GIGN), one with the Police Nationale (FIPN, a permanent JTF comprised of central unit RAID, regional swat teams GIPN, and Paris swat team BRI).
Basicaly, GIGN handles cases in rural areas, FIPN works in urban areas. They also have specific assignements for specific situations (nuclear plants, tubular assaults, close protection detail both domesticaly and abroad).
This is a commercial picture for the new MSA helmet (with rails and other features kinda like opscore FAST), even if the model is a real GIGN officer, they don’t have these helmets yet.
This may sound obtuse, but I honestly thought that was 12″ action figure close up.
The way it’s photographed actually does make it look that way. That’s pretty funny.
I was thinking the exact same thing:no minutarization setting is that good, no one would use it in that role, and no cop of any ilk is that clean. This is a man Barbie, and as much as I like seeing real boobs, I cant make judgements from a doll.
This is a promotional photo. The helmet, bulletproof vest and NVGs are not what’s currently fielded.
Wrong on two counts
Nope. He’s Right. That’s a promo shot and most certainly not what GIGN is currently using. Feel free to look at the most recent GIGN photos going around the Internet to verify that fact.
Jack ,
you’re wrong ; this is a commercial picture with non fielded Equipment (for instance Lucie is not used by the Group for more than 10 years now; and even not by Army SF)
Just have a look to the official calendar of the group to have an idea
http://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/gign/Media/Multimedias/Galeries/Calendrier-GIGN-2014
They are less equiped than some of their US counterparts but have up to date pièces of Equipment.
Their operational logbook is sufficient I think to avoid some criticism as “they don’t know how to zero a sight”, “they have to much velcro on their sleeves” and son on so forth.
Serious question, are these the same guys going through the door in the recent takedown video taped in France? Specifically, the video showing 2 teams failing to make entry and then shooting their teammate who did breach?
Smartass. Go back to call of duty.
No. Police RAID and BRI were the ones responsible for the Paris assault. GIGN had just been busy at the other site (Damartin-en-Goële) killing the two bastards responsible for the the original Charlie Hebdo attack.
Which by the way explains why this assault had to be rushed, since the guy had said he’d kill the hostages if the two others weren’t allowed to leave unarmed from their hideout. Doesn’t justify the two massive columns and the failed entry where they just let the breacher go in alone, but still.
not sure you’re right (in fact I’m sure you’re not) because you have only one side in view. The terrorist had been cordonned by an other column (you can hear previous explosions before what you call “failed entry”) and forced to run in the videoed force; he had been killed in the entrance doors area. The officers you can see on these videos are in charge or securing and screening the hostages (it was unclear if th ehostage taker was alone). Ther eis no real need to use brutal entry COA since hostages are very close from this entry and even possibly moving. The first man to enter went on the right to protect a bunch of people not known by the hostage taker (in a room in the basement).
It’s also good to know that both operations were linked for tactical reasons.
well i could write a whole book of what this guy in the picture is using but just to make it easier for many people here that may think the Nightvisiongoggle is a iphone and the holo sight on the side of his helmet is not needed.
the gear he is using is mainly a full body armor vest and a Mich 2000 ballistic helmet with a special attachment system from MSA Gallet. A french company that has a different system than opscore that originaly designed this system. This attachment system makes the equipment look futuristic in many ways, same with the nightvision goggles. Also the Lucie Nightvision Goggles arent really the newest NVG’s that are on the market. The German Army is using them for many years already.
The gear and equipment this guy is using (may only full equipped for the picture) isnt really the on top gear and the newest and best you can get right now but for sure a really good kit a special police group.
LOL, moar velcro!
Only countermeasure bad guys need is to put strong hook velcro in the doorways.
before criticizing GIGN, just have a look to GIGN record (i.e. Marignane hijacking)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_8969
As mister Larry Vickers said “misinformation overload”.
First of all it was an advertisement for MSA GALLET who provides two type of helmet for GIGN OPERATOR (KFS with ballistic shield for police mission and Tc 3000 for overseas op or night assault with NVG ( LUCIE II, MINI DIR -fusion device)).
The weapon is a P90 with white lamp, night Lazer from Lazer device and aimpoint with a flip/flop cover. This weapon is only use for specific mission where compacity is required.
Concerning the vest you have a STAND ALONE ergonomic plate NIJ IV with “rosist” cover to avoid shrapnel effect and to enable the oxy diver to dive with the plate. The vest is modular and made by NFM.
The common weapon use by operator are:
Glock 19/ HK MP5/ HK 416 or 417/ Accuracy 308 or 338/.50 PGM HECATE II and lot of cool things.
GIGN belongs to the gendarmerie and is in charge of hostage rescue in France in the countryside, airport & on ship. It is also in charge of major hostage rescue outside of France and very close to the French socom.
RAID belongs to the police national and is also the HR unit for the police, so he works principally in big city.
Darth Vader called, he wants his Stormtrooper back on duty.
I know it’s Gee-Whizzy, but damn. Just….Damn.