Arquus delivers the first 15 TRM2000 RIPs to the French Army.

On January 13, 2020, the Arquus site in Saint-Nazaire handed over the first 15 TRM2000 4x4 trucks to the teams of the SIMMT (Structure Intégrée du Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle des Matériels Terrestres) and the Service de la Maintenance Industrielle Terrestre (SMITer).

TRM2000 line in Saint-Nazaire (Picture source: Arquus)

This is an important milestone in the vehicle's industrial renovation program, which began at the end of 2018, and which will reach its cruising speed in 2020. This delivery is the culmination of a real performance by Arquus' teams, who managed to meet extremely tight deadlines in a very demanding program in terms of obsolescence management, availability of parts and industrial organization.

The TRM2000's Private Industrial Repair program (Réparation Industrielle Privée, RIP) is the 7th support program for trucks taken over by Arquus, after the six RIP programs included in the MSSPL contract (Marché de Soutien en Service Poids Lourds, Heavy Truck In-Service Support Market). It is the result of a close collaboration with the LMIC, the SMITer, the Bureau of Contracts and Industrial Partnerships (BCCP) and the 13th Base of Support from the BSMAT (BSMAT), which also refurbished 15 TRM2000s at the same time. This RIP program is designed to extend the operational life of the TRM2000s that entered service between 1982 and 1992, and that now have between 28 and 38 years of service in the most demanding theaters of operations. These tactical vehicles are highly valued by the forces for their lightness, compactness and mobility.

Surveys on the renovation of the TRM2000 began in October 2018. In March 2019, the programme was launched, with the aim of delivering 15 vehicles by the end of the year. This was and remains a real industrial challenge, as the TRM2000 is a vehicle whose spare parts are no longer produced, and which faces many obsolescences. This challenge will be met thanks to constant mobilization in the service of the forces, as well as the know-how developed on the other RIPs handled by Arquus' industrial and support teams.

The first diagnostics on TRM 2000 were carried out in May 2019 and the system went online in September 2019. In the meantime, at the end of July, the Saint-Nazaire plant was also asked to provide the vehicle painting work, in addition to the actual repair work. On January 13th, 2020, the first 15 TRM 2000s were therefore submitted to the IWMCS, in accordance with the commitments. It had taken 19 months for the first MRT10000 CLD, 16 months for the first HBC, 15 months for the first GBC, and thus less than 9 months for the first TRM2000. These extremely short deadlines demonstrate Arquus' expertise in tactical and logistic vehicle support, and the company's commitment to the forces. They also illustrate the excellence of the partnership and cohesion within an efficient joint industrial-state team. To achieve this performance, the Arquus teams had to mobilize all their expertise in diagnostics, maintenance and obsolescence management. The specific features of the program required precise management and close synchronization between all business lines, from the design office to purchasing and logistics. In total, the work on the TRM2000 involves the replacement of more than 400 references, as well as more than 220 working hours per vehicle on average.

200 TRM2000s are to be refurbished by the end of 2021 to re-equip overseas forces. The 30 first vehicles, including the 15 vehicles produced in parallel by SMITer, are due to be shipped next March to New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

Several Arquus sites are currently involved in industrial repair programs. Saint-Nazaire is in charge of the renovation of the Reconnaissance and Support Light Vehicles (VLRA) and the TRM2000s. The Military Vehicle Production Center of Limoges is responsible for a program aiming at refurbishing GBC180 and GBC (Sherpa) ADRs, the 500th of which were recently delivered to the forces. Fourchambault is in charge of RIP on the CBH 385 tankers of the SEA (Service des Essences des Armées), TRM10000 CLD and APD. Marolles-en-Hurepoix, finally, ensures the repair of transfer boxes for GBC180s. These industrial repair programs ensure the extension of the estimated operational life of these vehicles. They are fully in line with the ministerial desire to strengthen cooperation with private industry in the support of the Land Force’s vehicles.

TRM2000 line in Saint-Nazaire (Picture source: Arquus)