The new Armis trucks family from Arquus

Part of the Volvo Group, Arquus has been involved in military trucks production since a long time, and along the years has produced a considerable number of truck types in great numbers, the GBC 8KT, GBC 180, TRM2000, TRM4000 et TRM10000, VLRA ad Sherpa Medium to mention some. Eurosatory 2020 would have marked the announcement of a wholly new family of military trucks, known as Armis.

“One of our stars at Eurosatory would have been the new family of trucks that we named Armis, which development is in the final stage, and we plan to demonstrate them live in September,” Emmanuel Levacher, Arquus CEO tells EDR On-Line, adding that these vehicles can be seen in the company virtual stand that our readers can access clicking HERE. “We developed them looking at the requirements of the incoming bid for the renovation of the entire French forces fleet of tactical and logistic trucks, the Armée de Terre being by far our main customer,” the CEO explains. “We needed trucks that fitted in the right slot, not too much high-end and not too much commercial, answering precisely the mobility, protection and performances needs.” Three models would have been exhibited, 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8. “The workhorse will be the 6×6, which follows the path of the GBC 180, and will cover most missions both in country and downrange,” Levacher says, adding that “I consider that our edge over our competitors comes from what I previously mentioned as well as on the use of proven components available within the Volvo Group, that allow us to offer the right product at a competitive price not only in terms of acquisition but also in terms of logistic support, life-cycle cost being in the end the key element.”

Arquus developed those trucks aiming both at their use in the most various operational theatres ad well as in country, hence their engines will be definitely at the highest Euro standards to cope with the most stringent anti-pollution regulations, following the “green” stance adopted by the French Ministry of the Armies. While designing the new trucks, which will be available in 4×4, 6×6 and 8×8 versions, Arquus’ engineers took into consideration all lessons learned during the most recent French Army deployments. The Armis trucks will be able to cope with operational as well as logistic missions, and will be available in various specialised roles such as troop transport, fuel and water tank, mobile workshop, recovery, and other. Another key design feature is modularity, which allows fitting them depending on the mission, i.e. shifting from a non-protected cabin to a fully armoured one, cabin roofs allowing the installation of a remotely controlled weapon station, i.e. the Hornet RCWS developed by Arquus and Safran and already installed on the tactical vehicles adopted by France within its Scorpion programme. Armis trucks are fitted for accepting the most recent C4I equipment, and can be fully integrated in the Scorpion operational environment, adding the logistic transport element to those already integrated in the new French Army environment.

As said, not much was unveiled in terms of technical details, the only element visible in the viewgraphs being that the engine will be installed at the front, ahead of the cabin.

According to Arquus, the Armis family includes all the technologies developed by the group R&D centres allowing them to feature reduced fuel consumption, increased reliability, ease of maintenance, and reduced life-cycle cost.

Looking ahead, the Armis trucks will be able to accept on board automation elements currently under development at Arquus and illustrated at the company 2019 TechnoDays, such as autonomous convoy capability.

Arquus is obviously looking with great interest at the bid that will soon be launched by the French Armed Forces aiming at renewing their trucks fleet. Fully developed on company funds, the Armis family will leverage the recent improvements in the Arquus after-sale support system, such as the logistic platform created at Garchizy, 200 km south of Paris, where all spares for French Army vehicles are stored and handled.

For more detailed information on the new Arquus family of trucks, let’s wait next autumn when the true unveiling of those trucks will take place.

Graphics courtesy Arquus