PARIS — The French vehicle producer Arquus today unveiled a new 6×6 armored vehicle dubbed Fenris which can be equipped with a 105mm gun.
Officials from Arquus and Belgium’s John Cockerill Group, which owns the French firm, literally pulled the sheet off the Fenris at the Eurosatory defense exposition here. Company officials said the 26-tonne (28.6-ton) vehicle was developed in just over a year to meet the need for direct fire support, which the war in Ukraine has revealed to be a modern battlefield necessity. The 105mm gun on this vehicle is currently in use with the Ukrainian army, they said.
As another lesson learned from the war in Ukraine, Fenris has natively integrated protection in its Cockerill 3105 turret against drones, and is protected to meet NATO standard STANAG 4.
RELATED: France enters ‘exclusive’ negotiations with MBDA, Safran for long-range strike, defense minister says
Prior to the unveiling ceremony Thierry Renaudin, director general of John Cockerill Defense, told media that “there was no Arquus vehicle which the 105mm turret could equip, so in July 2025 we started development of a specific vehicle to carry this gun.”
“Fenris is the only vehicle bearing a 105mm gun which can be airlifted, including on the A400M,” added Frank Jansens, the director general of Cockerill Weapon Systems. He said the gun could fire at a 40-degree angle allowing it to increase its range from 2 km (1.24 miles) to about 11 km (7 miles). “This vehicle allows the gun to be fired on the move and our first hit probability reaches 95 percent at a distance of more or less 2,000 meters (6,500 ft).” The gun is compatible with all NATO munitions, he specified.
Joan Gibert, director of strategy products and services for Arquus, said the vehicle was a natural replacement for the AMX10 RC, an armored reconnaissance vehicle manufactured more than 40 years ago by French company Nexter, before it became KNDS. It was armed with a 105mm gun whereas its replacement in the French army, the Jaguar, only has a 40mm gun.
She added that Fenris also had active suspension that allows the pilot to both vary how high the vehicle is off the ground but also the pitch of the vehicle relative to the ground (changing the “assiette” in French). There are two advantages to this, she said: first in pure terms of mobility because it enables the Fenris to adapt to the nature of the terrain and get over large obstacles. And second in terms of survivability because the piloted suspension allows its silhouette to be shrunk and so better merge into its observation and shooting position.
Emmanuel Levacher, director general of Arquus, said, “we paid particular attention to the quality of the mobility of the vehicle because it is not only one of its best mission assets but is also its first life-insurance when confronted by the threats of the modern battlefield. So, a specific 6×6 chassis was developed by Arquus with a powerful yet very silent 500 Hp engine.”
The Fenris still has a few tests to undergo, but Gibert and Gansens agreed that if a client were to order a vehicle during the show and that it was an urgent operational requirement, then it could be delivered within 12 months. Otherwise the waiting time is about 16 months, Jean-Luc Maurange, CEO of John Cockerill Group, specified at the unveiling.
