The French Foreign Legion is growing

[Vergennes]

The French Foreign Legion like all the other units of the French army were going through restructuring which saw many units reduced or disbanded. It had to make sacrifices. But then happened the recent terror attacks in France and the Operation Sentinelle which saw the deployment of as much as 10.000 troops on the national soil.

To ease the burden on the army ,the President decided to cancel all the planned personnel cuts and even to increase army's fighting force by 11.000 soldiers in 2 years. The era of cuts and sacrifices is now over,and the future looks bright. Before the reforms,the FFL was recruiting less than 1.000 recruits a year. It recruited 1.810 Legionnaires in 2015 ; 1.700 in 2016 and plans to recruit up 1.300 soldiers this year. This,means that in 3 years,the French Foreign Legion would have recovered all the personnels it lost during the various reforms and cuts of the past 20 years,meaning that its size will increase from 6.700 to more than 8.900 personnels in 2018. And this,without reducing the recruiting standards.

12 units will be created in the current FFL regiments ; 8 infantry units ; 2 egineering units ; 1 cavalry unit ; 1 command and logistic unit.

The 13th DBLE is continuing its transformation. The unit,which was based in the UAE was composed of about 60-70 personnels. It was decided to re-base it in France and to tranform this unit into a metropolitan infantry regiment composed of more than 1.200 personnels in 2018.

The MoD,Jean-Yves Le Drian visiting the newly rebased 13th DBLE troops.

Some random FFL pictures.

@Providence @Pakistani Exile @Blue Marlin @Nilgiri @Abingdonboy @AUSTERLITZ

 

[Providence]

Damn how do they keep that hammer shining ?

 

[Zarvan]

GIGN Adopts CZ 806 Bren 2 in 7.62×39

A French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) member participates in a training exercice at the headquarters on January 10, 2010 in Versailles Satory, west of Paris. AFP PHOTO / FRED DUFOUR (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

French Counter-Terrorism group National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) recently announced at SOFINS 2017 that it would be adopting CZ’s 806 Bren 2 in 7.62x39mm with a 9 inch barrel. So far 68 carbines have been ordered for the roughly 400 man counter-terrorist force, resulting from extensive testing of various platforms in 7.62x39mm since 2015. CZ was apparently a late comer to the testing and evaluation but appears to have come out on top amongst the others involved. Currently, GIGN is stipulating that the carbine must be modified to accept a suppressor and an accompanying gas system to assist with shooting subsonic ammunition reliably. In addition to the carbine CZ is also trying to push the P-10 for adoption as well, but this appears to be a no go at present.

From Shepard Media-

CZ. The company toldShephard at the SOFINS exhibition that the GIGN has selected the 7.62 x 39 mm version of the rifle and placed an initial order for 68 units earlier in 2017.

Additional procurements are slated to take place in the near future with the aim of replacing the majority of the H&K 416s currently in service.

The decision to adopt the Bren 2 was the result of a process that began in 2015 after the Paris attacks in January that year. Faced with terrorists equipped with bullet-proof vests, French gendarmerie and police intervention units found that 9 mm weapons had little efficiency in such situations and that 5.56 mm ammo lacked the necessary stopping power.

The CZ spokesperson said that the GIGN identified a need for a new weapon able to fire a heavier bullet. The 7.62 x 51 mm caliber had the suitable characteristics but the weapons for this caliber were considered too heavy and bulky for efficient close-quarter combat.

Thus, GIGN decided to evaluate assault rifles chambered in the 7.62 x 39 mm caliber instead and undertook trials throughout 2015 with a variety of weapons.

CZ’s offering was only proposed in the latter stages of the evaluation program. Throughout the better part of 2016, the rifle was intensively tested in a variety of situations and was found to be the most reliable and efficient weapon within the panel of rifles tried by the GIGN.

The choice of the 7.62x39mm round at first glance appears to be very surprising for any Military/LEentity to adopt in western Europe, and especially one with the status and importance as GIGN. The operational requirement for the cartridge was released in 2015 after the disastrous Bataclan theater attacks in Paris. Beginning with the after action reviews from that attack, a number of law enforcement agencies across Europe began seriously looking into more powerful calibers for their officers in order to counter body armor clad attackers. In addition, many of the attackers in these recent terrorist attacks are committed to dying during the course of the attack and thus could probably fight longer while being hit with 5.56x45mm NATO rounds.

My first assumption is that GIGN doesn’t actually want the 7.62x39mm round. My inkling is that the service actually wants the .300 BLK but is hesitant on being one of the first groups to take the plunge and commit to a cartridge that hasn’t seen extensive operational usage. Seeing that the CZ 806 is itself extremely modular, I assume if overall reception of the .300 BLK goes well in Europe, GIGN will simply purchase .300 BLK barrels to replace the 7.62x39mm ones.

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2017/04/11/gign-adopts-cz-806-bren-2-7-62x39/

 

[Path-Finder]

I thought 1 REP might get resurrected but most probably not