Grenade Cases for French Gendarmerie

The Gendarmerie Nationale is a branch of the French Armed Forces, in charge of public safety, with police duties among the civilian population. It also contains a military police force and a special forces component (GIGN). The Gendarmerie works with the other national law enforcement agency, the Police Nationale, and, although it is a part of the armed forces establishment, is now a part of the Ministry of the Interior as its military component and forms part of its operations and budget. It is mandated to fulfil national security duties and duties in support of its parent ministry.

The Challenge

The Gendarmerie operate within France with a special responsibility for civil and military security and approached CP Cases with a requirement for a specialised lightweight, flame retardant case for storing and carrying grenades, which was also particularly resistant a level of accidental discharge.

Being supplied with measurements and inert samples of the grenades, as well as dimensions of vehicle storage zones where these cases would be stowed, CP Cases designers and production team set about assessing the best possible solution for the highly sensitive issues surrounding this special build.

The Solution

The case and foam inserts were of a standard design, resized to fit the client’s needs, but the clever part was the inclusion of fire retardant additives in both the case and the foam.

Extensive investigation and discussion with materials experts guided CP Cases designers to an additive to the rotational moulding process that helped prevent the case from rupturing in the case of an accidental explosion.

Another issue to address was ensuring that the custom-cut foam was flame retardant. With the addition of an additive to the foam production process, the foam becomes inherently resistant to combustion, further reducing the chance for the case to rupture or be damaged by accidental discharge.

These cases are supplied via Alsetex to the Gendarmerie on a regular basis as part of their obsolescence and renewal programme.

Products Used

Custom Rotomoulded

Flame retardant and resistant to combustion.