Paramiltary units of French Interior Ministry to receive new rifles
A total of nearly 140 rifles will be procured by the National Police, the National Gendarmerie and the presidential security unit
Eyal Boguslavsky
| 24/05/2021
Photo: Gendarmerie Nationale
The French Ministry of the Interior is apparently planning to acquire 7.62 x 35mm (.300 Blackout) caliber rifles. The German website Soldat & Technik reported that the ministry recently published a call for tenders to procure 138 rifles, out of which 40 are for the National Police, 62 are for the National Gendarmerie and 36 are for the Security Group for the Presidency of the Republic (GSPR), which was created in 2019.
According to the tenders, two types of weapons with different barrel lengths - 5″ and 7″ - are to be procured. The weapons should also have a modular structure and be convertible to 5.56 x 45mm caliber without special tools. In addition to the weapons themselves, the tenders call for delivery of accessories including 30-round magazines (six per weapon), silencers, carrying straps and handguards with an M-Lok interface. The tenders also call for the delivery of appropriate ammunition. Around 300,000 cartridges of supersonic ammunition and 660,000 cartridges of subsonic ammunition are to be delivered; the latter are intended for the GSPR, according to the report.
The website noted that the French authorities would not be the first in Europe to procure rifles that use .300 Blackout ammunition. The Belgian Federal Police acquired the FN SCAR-SC, while Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate police acquired the SIG MCX for its special forces and riot police. The German manufacturers CG Haenel and Heckler & Koch also produce such rifles.
A total of nearly 140 rifles will be procured by the National Police, the National Gendarmerie and the presidential security unit
Photo: Gendarmerie Nationale
The French Ministry of the Interior is apparently planning to acquire 7.62 x 35mm (.300 Blackout) caliber rifles. The German website Soldat & Technik reported that the ministry recently published a call for tenders to procure 138 rifles, out of which 40 are for the National Police, 62 are for the National Gendarmerie and 36 are for the Security Group for the Presidency of the Republic (GSPR), which was created in 2019.
According to the tenders, two types of weapons with different barrel lengths - 5″ and 7″ - are to be procured. The weapons should also have a modular structure and be convertible to 5.56 x 45mm caliber without special tools. In addition to the weapons themselves, the tenders call for delivery of accessories including 30-round magazines (six per weapon), silencers, carrying straps and handguards with an M-Lok interface. The tenders also call for the delivery of appropriate ammunition. Around 300,000 cartridges of supersonic ammunition and 660,000 cartridges of subsonic ammunition are to be delivered; the latter are intended for the GSPR, according to the report.
The website noted that the French authorities would not be the first in Europe to procure rifles that use .300 Blackout ammunition. The Belgian Federal Police acquired the FN SCAR-SC, while Germany's Rhineland-Palatinate police acquired the SIG MCX for its special forces and riot police. The German manufacturers CG Haenel and Heckler & Koch also produce such rifles.
