Paris security forces are prepared to deploy up to 80 armored vehicles in anticipation of "extreme violence" and rioting during "Act IV" of the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vest) protest scheduled for Saturday, according to Le Parisien.
The Berliet VXB-170, also known as a "VBRG" would be strategically deployed in parts of Paris most likely to suffer violence or vandalization. Designed in the 1960s, the 12 ton, 19-foot-long vehicles don 7mm thick armor and are capable of firing tear gas grenades. They can also be equipped with a 7.62mm machine gun, and either a 37mm or 40mm grenade launcher.
Up to 89,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed across the country, including at least 8,000 in Paris, according to Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, who said this week "We are facing people who are not there to demonstrate but are there to smash things up and we want to make sure we’re not leaving them to do what they want."
Yellow Vest movement is the most serious wave of protests in France since 1968. Will it evolve into Paris Spring? https://t.co/w5l5M6iGro— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) December 7, 2018
To that end, Philippe may order the VBRG deployment, while Paris Police will set up a judicial center to deal in real time with the anticipated 600 to 800 arrests, according to David LeBars, Secretary General of the National Union of Police Commissioners (SNCP).
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