Status: 01/02/2023 4:59 p.m
According to the manufacturer, after the total breakdown of the “Puma”, 17 of the 18 main battle tanks have been repaired. Almost all of the damage was trivial. Criticism comes from the Union and the Greens, who complain that the investigation is slow.
Almost all of the “Puma” armored personnel carriers that failed during a target practice have been repaired. “Almost all the damage was trivial,” said a spokesman for the manufacturer Rheinmetall of the dpa news agency.
17 of 18 vehicles lead again. A comprehensive repair was only necessary on one of the vehicles that had a cable fire.
Plan for deployment of the “Puma” tank
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defense said there was a state of affairs regarding the damage, but he did not provide any precise information. From this, a plan will be drawn up with all those involved as to how the “Puma” “could also be used under combat conditions in the long term”. That will certainly take a few more days, the spokesman said.
After 18 of 18 armored personnel carriers deployed failed during a shooting exercise, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht pulled the emergency brake and had the “Puma” withdrawn from a NATO obligation in the VJTF Rapid Reaction Force.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.
Union criticizes sluggish education
So far, questions about how serious the technical problems were or whether there were operating or maintenance errors have remained unanswered. The “Puma” armored personnel carrier 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, in their view, sluggish clarification of the recent failures of the infantry fighting vehicle. “The owner of the command and command seems more important to her own Christmas vacation than finally clearing up and tidying up,” said the defense policy spokesman for the Union faction, Florian Hahn (CSU), the “world”. “If you are wondering about current deficiencies in the Bundeswehr, you can say: the fish stinks from the head.” The minister broke her own promise to create transparency as soon as possible.
Greens want more transparency
Hahn asked the ministry for the current status and the results of an announced comprehensive assessment of the situation – without an answer, as he said. 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”.