After the series of breakdowns during shooting exercises with the Puma infantry fighting vehicle, the Bundeswehr wants to do everything possible 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 commitment to NATO from January 1.”
The Bundeswehr had encountered serious technical problems during exercises for NATO’s “spearhead” 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. 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.
“The units of the VJTF have my special attention. As soon as I received the report about the failures of the Puma after the end of the exercise, I spoke to the industry that same evening. They will support us with their teams,” said Zorn. The tanks were initially still on their way to their home bases.
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”.
