POTD: French GIGN With H&K MP5 And CBRN Suit
As if wearing a CBRN protective suit wasn’t enough, the French Special Forces GIGN combined this with some shooting drills with a Heckler & Koch MP5. It does look like it’s quite difficult to do any kind of precision aiming through the red dot, and there should be some difficulties shouldering the stock also. These kinds of special images are great for TFB’s Photo Of The Day.
GIGN’s original caption (machine-translated from French):
“This week, GIGN trainees continued their training in the NRBC field (acronym for Nuclear, Radiological, Biological, and Chemical risks). They learned how to move and react in protective suits, specifically modified by the GIGN NRBC unit in conjunction with the manufacturer. This training module allows operational personnel to prepare to intervene in the most degraded environments and to ensure the continuity of their action in polluted atmospheres.”
Before you ask, in English, it’s called CBRN for Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear, but the French language has a tendency to reverse most abbreviations.
As if life in a CBRN suite wasn’t difficult enough, you also have to wheel around your own oxygen to provide the over-pressure needed. The gloves don’t seem very suitable for jerking the trigger either.
It’s like Space, except on Earth.
It’s like Space, except on Earth.
Source: GIGN - Groupe d'Intervention Gendarmerie Nationales
Ex-Arctic Ranger. Competitive practical shooter and hunter with a European focus. Always ready to increase my collection of modern semi-automatics, optics, thermals and suppressors. TCCC Certified. Occasionaly seen in a 6x6 Bug Out Vehicle, always with a big smile.
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How resistant are those CBRN suits to damage? Can they stop shrapnel, at least? A CBRN-laced environment is one where even a small hole can compromise the suit's integrity/airtight nature and have fatal consequences for the wearer. As this blog entry's photos also show, fighting in these suits is extremely cumbersome too.