Germany to purchase 50 Puma IFVs for €1.5 billion

The German government will purchase 50 Puma infantry fighting vehicles from the German defense consortium of Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.

The Federal Ministry of Defense of Germany announced the news on its social media.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed that the budget committee in the lower house of parliament gave permission for the defense contract.

The potential contract involves the purchase of 50 Puma infantry fighting vehicles and support equipment worth €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion). The agreement will be financed from a special defense fund in the amount of €100 billion.

According to Marcus Faber, a defense representative from the German Free Democratic Party, the first batch of Puma, manufactured jointly by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, is expected to be received as early as 2024.

Pistorius also said that another order for the Puma IFV is possible later this year.

“Now the order will be placed very quickly — and then we will go ahead and hope to place a second order within this year,” he told reporters.

The Puma IFV is already in service with the German army; about 350 vehicles are currently in operation. Due to the new purchase, the total number of Pumas in service will reach approximately 400 units.

The order for Puma infantry fighting vehicles is part of Germany’s new military modernization policy that was triggered by the Russian-Ukrainian war. After Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the creation of a special defense fund of 100 billion euros to compensate for the chronic underfunding of the German army in the past.

Puma IFV

The Puma is the latest generation of German infantry fighting vehicles. It is a joint project of Projekt System & Management GmbH (PSM) concerns Krauss Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall (RLS). The Bundeswehr ordered 350 of these IFVs in 2012.

Puma IFV has a modular principle of shell protection. This allows for replacement with newer security elements during upgrades. Active protection systems are also installed on the IFV. The MUSS system detects incoming projectiles and actuates electronic and pyrotechnic countermeasures.

The hull of shell armor can withstand an explosion from a mine or IED weighing up to 10 kg. The side armor can withstand a 14.5 mm caliber and, when equipped with additional protection, 30 mm rounds. Modular additional protection at level C (Combat) covers the front part, turret, bottom, and sides.

The main armament is a 30 mm Rheinmetall MK30-2/ABM autocannon with a dual-feed system, which allows firing both armor-piercing ammunition and High-explosive incendiary. The autocannon has a rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute and can hit targets at a distance of up to 4,000 meters.

The Puma is also armed with a twin 5.56 mm machine gun and two Spike-LR missiles.

The vehicle is equipped with advanced electronics and communications systems, including a battlefield management system that allows the vehicle to exchange information with other units on the battlefield. The vehicle also has a digital fire control system that integrates weapons and sensors. This allows the crew to hit targets with maximum accuracy.

The IFV has a combat weight of 43 tons and can carry a crew of 3 people and 6 more fully equipped soldiers.

The engine is a 10-cylinder MTU diesel engine with a capacity of 800 horsepower, which provides a maximum speed of 70 km/h on roads and 50 km/h off-road. Puma has a range of up to 600 kilometers. The vehicle is also amphibious and can swim at speeds up to 10 km/h.

Failures in operation

The German military reported that the Puma IFVs intended to be used by the Immediate Response Forces demonstrated a large number of defects.

This was mentioned in a letter from Ruprecht Horst von Butler, Commander of the 10th Panzer Division, to the army inspector.

He said that the IFV electronics are especially vulnerable, and a serious cable fire occurred in the driver’s compartment of one of the vehicles. He also shared that two IFVs already in service also failed due to turret defects.

In December 2022, the German government suspended the process of re-armament for the new Puma IFVs until the identified problems were fixed. This was announced by the then-German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht after it became known about significant defects in vehicles.

However, already in April 2023, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support issued an order for the modernization of 143 Puma infantry fighting vehicles. Modernization, presumably, was supposed to correct the shortcomings inherent in the development of the vehicle.