Arquus facility in Garchizy to serve operationality of French Army vehicles.

Since World War 1, Arquus has been the main provider of the French Army’s fleet of military vehicles, as wheeled vehicles still remain much more numerous than tracked ones. Among the sites operated by Arquus throughout France, Garchizy (located between Nevers and Bourges) plays a strategic role in the maintenance of the vehicles in operational condition (MCO, Maintenance en Condition Opérationnelle).
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Garchizy's logo symbolizes the various activities carried on at this Arquus site (Picture source: Arquus)

Let us recall that Arquus is the heir of prestigious French manufacturers: Panhard, Renault, Somua, ACMAT, Berliet, Renault Trucks Defense, Latil, ALM, SAviem, and Auverland. These brands, nos swallowed by History, have their names linked to the most significant pages of the history book written by the French armed forces in the world since 1907, with the supply of the first ‘’automitrailleuse’’ Panhard Genty to the French army. The most iconic vehicle remains the Renault FT, the first actual tank with a turret, that appeared in 1917.

Garchizy, currently headed by Thierry Bitscnau, is the logistical hub for the spare parts of all vehicles in service with the French armed and security forces. It is also the « center of excellence » for the manufacture of the armored cabs mounted on the various vehicles supplied by this French manufacturer. The site covers 55 hectares, the buildings covering 60,000 m², among which 15,000 for storage of 35,000+ different spare part references. Between 350 and 450 people work on this site which includes its own school to train temporary or long-term workers to specific skills required by the various positions. Welding armored cabs, for example, is scarce know-how, and hard to find on the market, hence the necessity to create an internal school. Thierry Bitschnau is frantically caring about security improvement: the precaution process he is implementing has already enabled to cut by six the number of accidents since 2020.

VAB Ultima in the maintenance/refurbishing process (Picture source: Army Recognition)

More than 1,600 vehicles (trucks and armored vehicles) have already been completely maintained since 2006. An exception in Arquus policy in terms of vehicle maintenance management, Garchizy keeps the maintenance of the VAB armored vehicles (roughly 150 per year), as this combat-proven vehicle was created here. It was then considered relevant to keep its maintenance in Garchizy rather than relocating it to another of the Arquus sites.

Welding armored cabs requires highly skilled workers. Hard to find on the employment market, Arquus trains them in Garchizy. Their personal equipment is about to benefit from a brand new improvement enabling them to drop the heavy and hot leather outfit. The permanent quest for improvement in the technical process along with improvement of the human wellness of the workers has led to the acquisition of state-of-the-art robots to perform welding work where skillful human know-how did not show useful. Welding by workers is now centered on precise tasks and places that robots cannot access.

AIP (Autonomie Initiale Projetée, initial projected autonomy), the designation given by Arquus to its maritime containers whose contents consist of ‘’spare parts shops’’, or ‘’portable shops’’ (Picture source: Army Recognition)

An interesting development in terms of logistical support resides in the AIP (Autonomie Initiale Projetée, initial projected autonomy), the designation given by Arquus to its maritime containers whose contents consist of ‘’spare parts shops’’, or ‘’portable shops’’, filled in accordance with the vehicle types deployed in external operations, where three to four more spare parts are needed than in Metropolitan France. The experience gathered in the various operations carried on by the French army in the world enables to determine what spare parts are most needed for each vehicle type according to its deployment location. The needs for vehicles deployed in Africa for Operation Barkhane are different from those deployed in Romania, for instance.

Arquus prototype of the VBCI (Véhicule Blindé de Combat d'Infanterie) displayed at the Conservatory of Parimonium (Picture source: Army Recognition)

There is no way to build a future without a past, as Thierry Bitschnau says. Hence a Conservatory of Patrimonium was set up at Garchizy, where Arquus is gathering a wide range of prototypes (some are really surprising) and vehicles illustrating the glorious past of the different brands now symbolized by the name Arquus. This Conservatory is accessible only upon authorization, as it is not (yet) a public museum.

The site of Garchizy covers 55 hectares, the buildings covering 60,000 m², among which 15,000 for storage of 35,000+ different spare part references. (Picture source: Arquus)

Some of the vehicle types that can be completely overhauled at Garchizy (Picture source: Arquus/French Army)

Garchizy is in charge of the maintenance of the Arquus wheeled vehicles, as well as of welding the armored cabs then dispatched to the other manufacturing sites of the brand (Picture source: Arquus)

Top row: the cabs welded at Garchizy for the final vehicles (low row) (Picture source: Arquus)

The vehicles manufactured by Arquus (Picture source: Arquus)

Arquus export market (Picture source: Arquus)