Puma infantry fighting vehicle during an ongoing combat exercise at the Bergen military training area in the Lüneburg Heath. Up to 6 Panzergrenadiers can be transported in the rear combat compartment.
(Photo: imago images/Sven Eckelkamp)
Berlin The Puma armored personnel carriers that failed during a maneuver were about to be examined thoroughly. The main inspection was due in January for all 18 vehicles, the Handelsblatt learned from Berlin security circles. During this in-depth test, the Puma is completely disassembled and each part is checked for functionality.
“The investigation takes one to two months,” said a person familiar with the practice. During a maneuver recently, all 18 deployed Puma tanks failed at the same time, which is extremely unusual.
The commander of the 10th Panzer Division, Major General Ruprecht von Butler, then sent an incendiary email to his superiors at the Defense Ministry, warning him of the serious problems with the vehicle.
The incident alarmed the Bundeswehr, since the Pumas were planned for the VJTF (Very High Readiness Joint Task Force) NATO rapid reaction force from January. It will not come to that, although the Bundeswehr has over 350 Puma tanks. Startled by the failure, martens should now be used instead of Pumas.
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The Puma is actually the most modern tank in the Bundeswehr. Even before its introduction in mid-2015, however, the vehicle made headlines with breakdowns and technical difficulties. The reasons for this lie with the federal government as a customer, which repeatedly changed the specifications of the manufacturer consortium of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall itself during the construction phase. Even after the handover, the Puma had technical shortcomings that had to be remedied by the manufacturer consortium.
>> Read about this: Bundeswehr uses old Marder tanks for NATO spearheads – and will not order any new Pumas for the time being
The total failure of the maneuvers in Lower Saxony alarmed all sides equally. Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) announced a comprehensive investigation into the series of breakdowns, in which the industry was involved. For a few days now, the armored personnel carriers have been checked at Rheinmetall’s Unterlüß site in Lower Saxony and in a barracks in Regen, Bavaria.
Lambrecht questions the future of the Puma infantry fighting vehicle
The reasons for the failures are varied, said a person familiar with the events of the Handelsblatt. There are operating errors that could have been solved with the push of a button, but there are also more serious defects in the weapon systems, for example. A vehicle was also apparently damaged in an accident, it said.
According to the manufacturers KMW and Rheinmetall, the Puma should be repaired in the next two to three weeks. According to the circles, eight armored personnel carriers are already operational. Spokesmen for the Ministry of Defence, the Bundeswehr and the companies did not comment further on the subject.
The 18 Pumas should now go straight through the main inspection after the breakdown check. This will take more time, it said in the circles. From March, the armored personnel carriers of the Bundeswehr should then be available again.
More: The “Puma” brakes Rheinmetall – the share loses significantly