According to the manufacturer, almost all damage to Puma tanks is trivial

Several Puma tanks failed during a Bundeswehr shooting exercise. The manufacturer Rheinmetall is now commenting on the reasons.

According to the manufacturer Rheinmetall, almost all of the Puma infantry fighting vehicles that failed during a firing exercise by the Bundeswehr are operational again after repairs. “The assessment of the vehicles was completed at the end of last week, almost all of the damage was minor,” said a spokesman for the company on Monday when asked by the German Press Agency in Berlin. And: “Of 18 vehicles, 17 are driving again.” A comprehensive repair was only necessary on one of the vehicles that had a cable fire.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said that there was a status of the damage, but he did not provide precise information on Monday. From this, a plan will be drawn up with all those involved as to how the Puma tanks “could also be used under combat conditions in the long term”. This will certainly take a few more days, he added.

After 18 of 18 infantry fighting vehicles deployed failed during a shooting exercise, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) pulled the emergency brake and had military vehicles of the same type removed from a German NATO obligation in the VJTF Rapid Reaction Force. The German soldiers reported ready for action are now equipped with the older Marder infantry fighting vehicle. Lambrecht also put the subsequent purchase of the affected series on hold for the time being.

So far, questions about how serious the technical problems were or whether there were operating or maintenance errors have remained unanswered. The Puma infantry fighting vehicle was only declared combat-ready in 2021 and is being built jointly by the armaments companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).

The Union in the Bundestag reprimanded Lambrecht for, from their point of view, sluggish clarification of the recent failures of the infantry fighting vehicle. “The holder of the command and command power seems to be more important than finally clearing up and cleaning up your own Christmas vacation,” said the defense policy spokesman for the Union faction, Florian Hahn (CSU), the “world” (Monday). “If you’re wondering about current deficiencies in the Bundeswehr, you can say: the fish stinks from the head,” said Hahn. The minister broke her own promise to create transparency as soon as possible.

Hahn had previously asked the ministry for the current status and the results of an announced comprehensive assessment of the situation – without an answer, as he says. He doubts that the industry is being blamed one-sidedly: “The minister was obviously completely wrong in the initial diagnosis.”

After the opposition, the Greens also called for faster clarification and more transparency towards the Bundestag. “Having a plan is good. Nevertheless, we would like to know very soon what the problem was – and not have to collect pieces from the troops and the press,” said Sara Nanni, leader of the Greens parliamentary group in the defense committee, the “taz” ( Tuesday).