Pieuvre Armement

"Les tentacules de la pieuvre pour votre guerre! Arms of the octopus, arms for your war!"

- Pieuvre Armement slogan

Pieuvre Armement (English: Octopus Armaments) was a private military company that operated under the mother company Outer Heaven run by Liquid Ocelot, and employed an armed force the size of Canada and Mexico's populations combined. It was based in France, and utilized the SOP system, using nanomachines to enhance and regulate their senses. The name was based on FOXHOUND member Decoy Octopus.

History
In 2014, Pieuvre Armement was deployed in South America to fight a local guerrilla group. Raiden mentioned to Solid Snake that the South American state army was fighting alongside Pieuvre Armement against the rebels, setting up ambushes for the rebel forces. The PMC, upon capturing rebel soldiers, would also have the imprisoned soldiers executed by gunpoint. The PMC later attempted to evacuate Naomi due to the situation in the area becoming far too dangerous for her, and later ended up suffering from seizures resulting from the SOP system undergoing a lockdown, due to the use of Solid Snake's DNA. In addition, they also became incapable of doing anything but destructive behavior due to the nanomachines controlling emotional behavior growing unstable from the shutdown and damaging the frontal lobe of the soldier's brains, imparing their speech and emotions, and making them incapable of feeling pain, making them comparable to zombies. After the test, the Pieuvre Armement soldiers suffered from brain damage, leaving them "unsalvageable."

Equipment
Pieuvre Armement soldiers wear green and olive drab cargo pants and tactical armor. They can be seen wearing green long sleeve tactical jackets under their vests as well as baseball caps, knee pads, neck gaiters, Com-Tac Ballistic headsets, MBITR transceiver radios, and sunglasses. Their primary weapons are the Mk.17, the M14 EBR, XM320 grenade launchers (a stand-alone configuration with a telescopic stock) and, in some cases, the MP7. Their basic sidearm is the GSR. Pieuvre Armement soldiers who guarded the Vista Mansion and power station in South America used the M60E4 and M2HB machine guns; while wearing slightly different attire. They also utilized custom versions of the M870 Shotgun. They also tended to carry chest harnesses that also contained military chemlights.

Pieuvre Armement also utilized Strykers and powered suits for heavy combat with attack helicopters being deployed for close air support. They also deployed large numbers of Gekko unmanned weapons.

Unconfirmed history
During their operations in South America, the Pieuvre Armement possessed several Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport aircraft for transporting troops. In addition, at least some of them wore Protec helmets.

Behind the scenes
Pieuvre Armement's assistance to the South American state army, coupled with the fact that Laughing Octopus ambushes several rebels, would imply that the PMC is a guerilla warfare-based one.

Pieuvre Armement appears to be the lightest equiped of the PMC, often lacking helmets and other protective gear.

From the map presented in Act 1 Briefing, its headquarters appears to be located in the heart of continental France, apparently in Limoges or Poitiers.

Compared with the other Outer Heaven PMC forces in Metal Gear Solid 4, Pieuvre Armement troops are seen to be the most lightly armored, as they seem to wear lighter vests and some are equipped with no knee pads. Helmets are not used either, possibly in order to reduce the overall weight soldiers must carry in the unforgiving climate of South America.

The Mk.17/SCAR would be a very strange choice for a French-based military force of any kind as the standard rifle for the French military is the FAMAS Assault Rifle. This might either be an oversight by the military advisor, and/or the programers of the game, or the Mk.17/SCAR may simply be the standard issue weapon chosen for Outer Heaven PMC personnel. The same applies for their other primary weapons. Pieuvre Armement's equipment can be imitated by soldiers in Metal Gear Online.

In the 7th Circle TV game show, it is implied that Pieuvre Armement manufactures 51.5 million firearms per year and employs an armed force the size of Canada and Mexico's total populations combined (which, in a recent study, would come down to being 147,050,000 rounded up to the nearest thousandth). This would stand to contrast the real world total poulation of France which only, as of January 1, 2011, 65,821,885 people live in, perhaps implying that, similar to the French Foreign Legion, the mercenaries themselves aren't all French based.

Pieuvre Armement's TV spot featured a female using a spear gun, although it is not known if the troops themselves actually used it.