The Sight He Stopped Thinking About
For years, Remi David carried an Aimpoint® Micro™ T-2 during his work as an operator with France’s elite police tactical unit.
For years, Remi David carried an Aimpoint® Micro™ T-2 during his work as an operator with France’s elite police tactical unit. Looking back, one thing stands out: how little attention the sight demanded.
“I never had any issue. I never had any battery problem. Nothing. It’s just one thing you can remove from your head. You know it’s going to work.”
At RAID, the tactical unit of the French National Police, equipment was checked regularly. Remi remembers the Monday morning inspections and how some optics occasionally needed attention or had to be re-zeroed.
His T-2 rarely gave him anything to do.
“I don’t remember ever changing the battery or re-zeroing it.”
For an operator preparing for a mission, there were plenty of other things competing for attention – weapons, lights, night vision equipment and communications.
The red dot was not one of them.
“I knew I didn’t have to care about my red dot.”
From T-1 to T-2
Remi spent 19 years in the French National Police, including nine with RAID. Before that, he served with the Service de la Protection, where he first encountered the Aimpoint Micro T-1 between 2014 and 2016. Some of the unit’s MP5s were equipped with the compact sight.
When he joined RAID in 2016, another optic was standard equipment on the unit’s assault rifles. A handful of Micro T-1 sights were available on compact submachine guns, however, and Remi asked the unit’s gunsmiths if he could put one on his assault rifle instead.
“They weren’t even sure it would work with 5.56,” he remembers. “But they said, ‘If you want one, take one and put it on your rifle.’”
He did.
The choice attracted some attention. Remi trained with a single red dot while many of his colleagues preferred a larger reticle, particularly for close-range shooting.
“I was the only one who had a single red dot on my assault rifle. And I did exactly the same job as everyone else at short distance.”
Over the years, he says he increasingly came to favour simplicity over adding more systems.
“I’ve always preferred simplicity, speed and robustness.”
When the unit received its first Aimpoint Micro T-2 sights around 2016–2017, Remi switched from the T-1. The T-2 remained on his rifle throughout the rest of his years as an operator.
Keep your eyes where they belong
Remi’s experience also shaped how he thinks about the red dot itself.
Traditional shooting instruction can teach a shooter how to align iron sights and where to place visual focus. In a close-range armed confrontation, he says, reality looks different.
“You’re looking at the guy. You’re looking at his hands. You’re in a rush.”
With a red dot, the shooter can remain focused on the target and bring the dot into the field of view instead of shifting visual attention to align iron sights.
“The reality of a gunfight is that, independent of the distance, you’re going to be target focused. With a red dot, you can focus on the target and bring the dot to your field of view.”
He also disputes the idea that red dot sights are inherently difficult to master.
“The red dot shows your mistakes. With iron sights, you just don’t see them in the same way.”
From operator to instructor
Remi later moved from Paris to Marseille, where he continued working operationally and also took on responsibilities in training and precision shooting.
After leaving the police, he founded Principia Solutions, where he now works with training, consultancy and the transfer of operational experience. He also works with Aimpoint as an ambassador and instructor.
When introducing shooters to red dot sights, he does not tell them what to choose.
“I don’t tell them, ‘You have to take a Micro T-2.’ I tell them: here are the sights – choose whatever you want.”
His own choice is different.
“I would go with a T-2 because I worked my entire operator life with it. I trust it and I have no doubt about it.”
“I’ve put my life behind it for years. So I don’t know why I would change now.”
The Aimpoint Micro Story
The Aimpoint® Micro™ was developed as a smaller and lighter alternative to the Comp™ series, without sacrificing durability or battery life.
The first generation was launched in 2007 with the T-1, H-1 and R-1. The T-1 was developed for professional use, the H-1 for hunting, while the silver R-1 was aimed at competitive pistol and revolver. The R-1 was the shortest-lived of the three and was discontinued in 2010.
In 2014, Aimpoint launched the second generation, the T-2 and H-2. The T-2 introduced a sharper 2 MOA dot, revised lens geometry and a more rugged housing. The H-2 carried over the same main improvements for hunting use.