Germany suspends purchase of Puma IFVs

The German government will not purchase the Puma IFV until the detected problems are fixed.

This was announced by Christine Lambrecht, German Defense Minister after it became known about significant defects in vehicles, Spiegel writes.

“Our troops should be able to count on the reliability and stability of weapons systems even in combat conditions. And NATO can continue to rely on our responsibilities within the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF),” Lambrecht said.

The German military will continue to use the Marder IFV, and the purchase of Puma will be suspended.

“After the previous exercises, we were still pretty confident because Puma performed well. And now this unusually serious failure is happening… Until the Puma IFV proves its stability, there will be no second purchase. Criticism from the parliament is absolutely justified,” she said.

Christine Lambrecht had a conversation with General Eberhard Zorn, Inspector General of the Bundeswehr and Benedikt Zimmer, State Secretary for Arms as vell as other officers.

The German government will also negotiate with representatives of the defense industry.

It should be reminded that recently it became known about the letter from Ruprecht Horst von Butler, Commander of the 10th Panzer Division, where he reported significant defects in the Puma IFV.

Butler reported that the 18 Puma BMPs used in training ceased to be operational.

It was also noted that the IFV`s electronics were especially vulnerable, and a serious cable fire had occurred in the driver’s compartment of one of the vehicles.