I mentioned in my previous posts on the differences between the French Gendarmerie Nationale and the Police Nationale: the main one is that the Gendarmerie is an internal army--complete with special forces unit, the GIGN.This headline is pointing out that the Gendarmerie Nationale is deploying its tanks to combat the riots.
Imagine how that would go over in the States!
Although calling Centaure a tank might be a bit of an overstatement. It's more like an armoured car, but it's still far more of a militarised vehicle than a police car. Here's the French Ministry of the Interior's page on it:
https://www.gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr/gendinfo/actualites/2021/centaure-le-nouvel-engin-blinde-de-la-gendarmerie
Soframe, the manufacturer's webpage for it:
https://soframe.com/us/catalogue/arive-armoured-infantry-vehicle/
The proper name for this is "ARIVE" (for ARmoured Infanty VEhicle). It replaces the véhicule blindé à roues de la Gendarmerie (VBRG) which is a little like the Russian BRDM-2 armored car. Here is the ARIVE in action:
While people in the US might bemoan things like this on their streets--it would probably keep the Kyle Rittenhouses out of the action.
Especially if an LE sniper would target anyone foolish enough to carry a weapon during a riot.
