The lack of technical maturity does not justify any subsequent procurement of the system, argued the Federal Court of Auditors.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The Federal Ministry of Defense is defending itself against allegations that it did not take warnings about the lack of operational readiness of the Puma infantry fighting vehicle seriously and ordered the retrofitting against its better knowledge.
According to a report in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”, the Federal Court of Auditors recommended on September 2 that the contract negotiations be broken off, since neither the budget committee’s specifications had been complied with, “nor was the system technically mature enough to justify subsequent procurement”.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) suspended the retrofitting of the armored personnel carriers already delivered to the Bundeswehr and the planned follow-up order of 50 more units – but only after 18 of 18 Pumas deployed during a target practice in December failed. Before that, on December 14, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag released 850 million euros for retrofitting the tank.
The Federal Ministry of Defense has now announced that it has taken note of the Court of Auditors’ comments and takes “every comment very seriously”. The Bundeswehr, the procurement office and industry have gained extensive and valuable practical experience with the tank in operational tests, field tests, certifications and exercises.
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In February 2021, the army inspector certified the combat suitability of the Puma, which also proved to be highly reliable during target practice in September. Against this background, a decision was made about retrofitting, with which the tanks should meet the requirement profile required by the Bundeswehr.
Bundeswehr uses tanks that are around 50 years old
However, after the tanks failed during the firing practice in December, the situation was different. Lambrecht decided that the Bundeswehr would use the approximately 50-year-old Marder infantry fighting vehicle for its leadership role in the NATO Rapid Reaction Force (VJTF) in the coming year , not on the cougar. Also, the contract with the industry for the retrofit was not signed in December as originally planned.
>> Read here: Manufacturers want to repair defective Puma tanks by the New Year
At the end of this week, the minister is expecting an analysis of how the Pumas failed in the most recent target practice. The tanks, which were jointly built by the manufacturers Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), are currently being checked at the Rheinmetall Unterlüß site in Lower Saxony and in a barracks in Regen, Bavaria. According to information from security circles, eight of the defective armored personnel carriers are now operational again.
The Bundeswehr has a total of 350 Pumas, 42 of them in the configuration that meets the requirements of the VJTF.
When deciding on retrofitting and the purchase of additional vehicles, the yardstick is that the Puma must also prove to be stable beyond the current repairs, the Ministry of Defense announced. The troops must be able to rely on the fact that weapon systems are robust and reliable even in combat. “Only under these conditions does the Puma system have a future in the Bundeswehr.”
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