The armaments companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) want the defective armored personnel carriers puma repaired in the next two to three weeks. The companies announced this in a joint statement on Wednesday.
Some of the tanks have been examined for the exact damage patterns since Wednesday at the Rheinmetall Unterlüß site in Lower Saxony, among other places. Expert personnel from KMW and Rheinmetall have been sent to the Bundeswehr locations, where more are located puma-Vehicles are located, it was said “All forces are now directed towards repairing the vehicles in the next two to three weeks,” the companies explained.
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht had previously given the industry a tight time window to repair the failed tank puma given. “I’ll give them a few weeks’ time because I need reliable systems and not ones that I might be able to use at some point in 2025,” the SPD politician told Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday.
Over the weekend it became known that all 18 of the tanks used during a firing exercise by the Bundeswehr for participation in the NATO intervention force VJTF had failed. The tracked vehicle, plagued by numerous technical problems, was only declared fit for combat last year.
The Puma armored personnel carriers were intended for NATO’s “Very High Readiness Joint Task Force” (VJTF). You will first be replaced by the older infantry fighting vehicle marten replaced.