The looming fiasco with the FCAS air combat system has overshadowed German-French arms cooperation for months. A decision is still pending as to whether and – if so – how the mega-project consisting of combat aircraft, drones and digital battle clouds will continue. Contrary to plan, Berlin and Paris did not reach an agreement by the end of the year. A federal government spokesman said at the end of December that he could not give a new date for a decision. The industrial partners Airbus and Dassault are keeping a low profile. The trigger for the dispute over FCAS is the French push for a readjustment of the division of tasks. On a smaller scale, however, there are examples of German-French arms cooperation being successful. The consortium made up of the companies Daimler Truck and Arquus has just been awarded a contract by the French General Directorate for Armaments (DGA) to build 7,000 military trucks. The aim is to modernize the logistical and tactical capabilities of the French land forces. The order volume is around two billion euros, and delivery of the trucks with a payload of up to six tons is expected to take place over a period of more than ten years. The contract provides for the option of 3,000 additional vehicles. For wartime operations in rough terrain, Daimler Truck manufactures the trucks in Wörth am Rhein and in Molsheim, France, near Strasbourg. Arquus is responsible for the militarization, system integration and assembly of the protected cabins in its French factories in Limoges, Garchizy and Saint-Nazaire. Daimler Truck was spun off from the parent company Daimler (now Mercedes-Benz again) in 2021, which still holds around 30 percent of the capital shares. Arquus, which emerged from the Trucks Defense division of the French car manufacturer Renault and was temporarily owned by the Swedish Volvo Group, has been part of the Belgian John Cockerill group since 2024. The military truck called “Zetros by Arquus” is intended to replace old Renault GBC 180 and is based on the Zetros chassis from Daimler Truck, of which around 15,000 units have already been sold. It has three axles, a driver’s cab that sits behind the hood, and a diesel engine that also processes low-quality fuels when refueling. The French army ordered it both as a troop transport and as a transport vehicle with a shelter body, crane equipment and winches. The truck does not show its strengths on flat asphalt surfaces. It was designed for soggy ground, forest crossings, crossing low rivers and steep embankments – precisely for military operations in impassable terrain. It is supposed to transport fuel, evacuate injured people from the front, bring material and soldiers into the combat zone and ensure that troops are connected. “Obviously the best offer” The order is a result of the new armament concept that Daimler Truck developed last year. “We have set ourselves a major goal of supporting the NATO states in meeting all new requirements,” said Franziska Cusumano in an interview with the FAZ a few weeks ago. The manager was head of the Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks division until the end of 2025 and will take over the management of Mitsubishi Fuso, the Asian subsidiary of Daimler Truck, in April. The war in Ukraine began with a continuation of the Second World War and then quickly turned into a drone war. “Despite the threat of drones, supplies have to be organized every day – and fast and maneuverable trucks play a crucial role,” said Cusumano.More on the topicThe looming contract for Daimler Truck and Arquus has sparked discussions in the French defense scene. Surprisingly, it didn’t go to local hero Renault Trucks, which didn’t even apply because of the DGA’s controversial specifications. The Swedish-German-French-Italian consortium made up of Scania, MAN, Soframe and Iveco also came away empty-handed. “It is interesting to note that in this project the French state obviously chose the best offer for itself and did not award this order to the traditional supplier Renault out of national reflex,” says Patrick Brandmaier. The general manager of the German-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Paris speaks of an “important sign for the German-French cooperation”. He emphasizes that, in addition to many difficult projects such as FCAS, there are numerous collaborations between Germany and France that work very well. “We see that the mutual will to build a powerful European defense industry is taking shape and form,” said Brandmaier.
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