Germany will not buy any more Puma infantry tanks until they have proven their reliability, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Monday, after several of the vehicles were taken out of service during a recent military exercise.
Shares in Rheinmetall, which makes the tanks together with Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), fell 7% after the minister’s announcement.
Problems during a shooting practice.
A German Defense Ministry statement said the goal was to get the Puma tanks operational as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Germany’s Bundeswehr army would use Marder tanks, the predecessor model of the Puma, starting January 1 in what a ministry spokesman called an “alternative solution.”
Magazine spiegel reported over the weekend that 18 Puma tanks earmarked for NATO’s Joint Very High Readiness Task Force next year were not operational after problems arose during a firing exercise.
Germany pledged to increase defense spending and modernize its military after the war in Ukraine, and the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz made 100 billion euros available for defense investment in this year’s budget.
Source: BFM TV
