Bundeswehr has serious problems with the infantry fighting vehicle

Puma infantry fighting vehicle

The Puma infantry fighting vehicle failed in series during the last Bundeswehr training sessions.

(Photo: dpa)

Berlin After the series of breakdowns during target practice with the infantry fighting vehicle “Puma”, the FDP politician and chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, calls for a quick solution to the problems.

You don’t know any details yet. “However, I expect that the project manager, the inspector general and the inspector of the army will clarify very quickly where the error lies and how the problem can be solved,” Strack-Zimmermann told the Handelsblatt. “After all, we put a lot of money into the Puma.”

The Bundeswehr wants to do everything to quickly restore operational readiness. Together with specialists from the armaments industry, there will be an immediate damage assessment, said the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, Eberhard Zorn, the German Press Agency in Berlin.

The procurement office BAAIN and the inspector of the army “will do everything possible to restore the clear state of the Puma,” said the general. And: “We will fulfill our obligation to NATO from January 1.”

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The Bundeswehr had encountered serious technical problems during exercises for the “Spearhead” of NATO with the ultra-modern but also particularly vulnerable Puma infantry fighting vehicles. During a training session, all 18 combat vehicles failed within days, the “Spiegel” reported on Saturday.

Above all, the electronics of the high-tech tanks are probably vulnerable

The magazine referred to an internal letter from the commander of the 10th Panzer Division, Major General Ruprecht von Butler. According to information from the German Press Agency, the maneuver took place at the armored force’s target practice center, and the letter has caused a stir in the Ministry of Defense since Friday.

Marie Agnes Strack Zimmermann (FDP)

The politician does not yet know any details.

(Photo: IMAGO/NurPhoto)

Because the new breakdowns affect vehicles in a special configuration, with which the Butler subordinate Panzergrenadierbrigade 37 is supposed to participate in the VJTV (Very High Readiness Joint Task Force) of the NATO alliance from the new year.

After reading the letter, the “Spiegel” reported a total failure. The last two Pumas that were still operational were also out of action “on yesterday’s shooting day after an hour and a half with turret defects,” the general wrote.

According to the report, the electronics of the high-tech tanks in particular are vulnerable, and there was even a serious cable fire in the driver’s compartment of one tank. The troops were already aware of the nature of the defects, the e-mail said, but they had “never occurred with this frequency before”.

The systems were only moved on shooting ranges in the North German lowlands and were “not overused” there. According to the assessment of the foreman of the affected company, which he considers very credible, the General writes, it can be assumed that the company will only be fully operational again in three to four months.

Inspector General Zorn said the VJTF troops had his special attention. “As soon as I got the message about the failures of the Puma after the end of the exercise, I spoke to the industry that same evening. She will support us with her teams,” said Zorn. The tanks were initially still on their way to their home bases.

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The Puma infantry fighting vehicle, which had been plagued by numerous technical problems for years, was only declared combat-ready last year. The combat vehicle developed and produced by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH (RLS) had previously made headlines as a “breakdown tank”.

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