DAccording to its own statements, the Ministry of Defense has “taken note of” warnings from the Federal Court of Auditors about the Puma infantry fighting vehicle and take every comment from the Court of Auditors “very seriously”. Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) referred to the Inspector of the Army, Alfons Mais, when asked why, shortly after a warning, a budget of 850 million euros was requested for the improvement of the puncture-prone tanks.
He “confirmed the tactical combat suitability of the Puma in February 2021”. In addition, the results of an exercise in the army in September “illustrated the high level of reliability both from the point of view of the user and of the military repair personnel”.
On the other hand, the Federal Court of Auditors recommended in a test report of September 2 that “the contract negotiations should be broken off”. Parliament’s requirements were not met, nor was “the system technically mature enough to justify subsequent procurement”. The defense and budget committees were informed in mid-December that the “technical maturity” of the Puma was “contrary to this” and “appreciated much more positively” by the Court of Auditors.
Threatened with end of use
Little did MPs know at the time of the decision that days earlier, 18 of 18 Puma tanks had failed during an exercise. They learned about it from the press.
The damage report cited there by General Ruprecht von Butler also referred to ongoing disruption and repair problems, which contradicts Mais’ current statement. He says: “The expected increased stability of the Puma justifies our optimism for the future of the ‘Panzergrenadier System’ in the army.”
The minister, on the other hand, had threatened to stop using it in her own press release and made it clear: “The Puma must also prove to be stable beyond the current repairs. The troops must be able to rely on weapon systems being robust and reliable in combat. Only under these conditions does the Puma system have a future in the Bundeswehr.”
What caused the outages?
This requirement has never been met in the seven years since the tracked vehicle was introduced in the army. The vehicles ordered in 2009 doubled in price and arrived several years late due to technical and design defects. In March 2021, they failed a NATO certification. For a review, 43 of the 350 Pumas introduced into the Bundeswehr were revised and allegedly made suitable for war for around half a billion euros. The vehicles affected by the mass failure are among the newly modernized and certified vehicles.
One of the open questions is what caused the outages. The SPD budget politician Andreas Schwarz said: “We expect a situation report from the Federal Ministry of Defense as soon as possible in order to be able to make a final assessment of the approved funds.”
Lambrecht had identified the nearest culprit fairly immediately. On December 25, the minister told the newspaper “Welt”: “I made it clear to the industry: If the Bundeswehr is to continue to rely on this infantry fighting vehicle, then the technical problems must be eliminated as soon as possible.”
If the causes of the current failures are more likely to be due to maintenance failures or incorrect use of the army, Lambrecht would have another problem. She had announced a damage report for the end of the week, which the Bundestag is also eagerly awaiting.