Of course, these heavy shells could just be called anything, like a turtle. Or SPZ/2002. But instead they are constantly given names of predators. Leopard, cheetah, marten – or just puma. And so the problems with this infantry fighting vehicle began with the question of the right name.
The new tracked vehicle for the armored infantrymen of the army, for which the Bundestag gave the go-ahead in 2002, and the 50-year-old infantry fighting vehicle marten supersedes, should originally Panthers mean. In the nomenclature of the users this would have been a good name, panthers are big, fast, dangerous, agile and sneak up on their victims. Because a vehicle of the same name was already used by the Nazis in World War II, the then SPD Federal Minister of Defense Peter Struck thought that a little less historical reference would probably be better. At that time, the name “Hedgehog” was probably also briefly discussed for the combat vehicle of the two armaments companies Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Rheinmetall. However, hedgehogs sleep a lot, especially in winter, and for a tank that should always be ready, Hedgehog would have been an odd name. So they called the tank puma, which after all was a sacred animal for the Incas. Strong, powerful, patient.
And now this: In a Bundeswehr exercise, 18 puma– Infantry fighting vehicles failed one after the other, there is talk of a “total failure” – 18 out of 18, that is, operational readiness equal to zero. Spicy about the series of breakdowns: the training at the target practice center in Munster, Lower Saxony, took place next year with a view to participating in the NATO intervention force VJTF (Very High Readiness Joint Task Force). The special troops are to be used, among other things, on the eastern flank of NATO. She should be agile and on the highest level of readiness so that she can be on site quickly. With tanks that don’t work, however, it is difficult to send your soldiers to NATO’s rapid reaction force.
All broken – this is already more than a strange coincidence
What exactly the problem is has yet to be clarified. The Bundeswehr must first communicate what exactly happened, according to industry circles. All tanks, it is said elsewhere, were actually admitted to the exercises as fully operational. And then all broken at the same time?
The fact that 18 tanks failed at the same time would be more than just a particularly strange coincidence. Basically, the particularly sophisticated electronics of the high-tech tanks are prone to failure, and there is also talk of serious cable fires in the driver’s compartment. At the end there were two more ready for use Cougars failed with defects in the tower – the damage picture that is currently emerging is “inconsistent”, says an insider. Apparently, it must now also be clarified how the tanks were maintained, whether there were enough spare parts on site and what tools were used.
“Scrap for six billion euros”
The leader of the Left Party in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, therefore called on the federal government to examine claims for recourse against the manufacturers. “Scrap for six billion euros” is “embarrassing”. The applies puma actually as one of the most modern armored personnel carriers in the world, a concentrated load of high-tech, software and steel on tracks. More than 1000 hp, up to 70 kilometers per hour.
Who wants to know what this puma should be able to, can watch a Bundeswehr video on Youtube, uploaded in 2021, a video of a tank bringing grenadiers onto the battlefield and then flanking them with its cannon. A video in which it bangs, crashes and burns. Of the puma rolls through the forest, soldiers jump out, plus the noise of battle. A “qualitative leap for the operational readiness of the German army” is the puma, and the new “Panzergrenadier system” is explained: armored personnel carriers and infantrymen would be networked, and the members of a unit could communicate via digital cards. In the Bundeswehr, the tank is “continuously tested and improved” because the grenadiers have to be ready for their “NATO alliance obligations” and have strong anti-tank defenses “at a range of up to 4,000 meters”.
The new pumaversion is “really nice,” writes one underneath, and another “I would buy 10.” And a third says that he doesn’t think that “given the current situation” it would be possible to defend even a single farm with the “few vehicles ready for use”. Unfortunately, that’s what it looks like at the moment.
While he was puma was only declared combat-ready last year – after a long series of problems. Originally, 350 tanks were ordered from the arms companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. It begins with the delays, months of delays that have long since turned into years. In addition, there are the price increases, currently a puma cost 17 million euros. And then again and again the technical defects; for example in the summer of 2020, when it was already clear that a NATO mission would hardly be possible. So technologically advanced the puma also is: It needs a very well trained staff. The tank is something for the tech-savvy IT experts among the grenadiers. So there were always problems with the electronics, the software, at some point it rained through the roof hatch during a storm, and in the spring Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had to declare that only 150 of the tanks were operational at all. Today one would probably have to add: well, at most.
“A major setback,” says the minister
On Monday, the minister pulled the ripcord and decided to buy more armored personnel carriers of the type puma for the Bundeswehr. The vehicle must prove stable, she said. And the troops must be able to rely “on the fact that weapon systems are also robust and stable in combat”. The new breakdowns are a “serious setback”, according to the SPD politician. “The project puma is at a crucial milestone,” and she “made this unmistakably clear to everyone involved.” However, NATO can continue to rely on the Bundeswehr to fulfill its obligations.
There is a solution, and it dates back to the 1970s. From the beginning of the year, the Bundeswehr soldiers should not use the puma be on the road, but again with the old infantry fighting vehicle marten. So with that tank, which was actually about replacing it. And because there is also a lot of money involved in tanks, the minister’s cancellation was not without consequences. Shares in the listed tank builder Rheinmetall were down almost eight percent at the close of trading on Monday.