Bundeswehr to get 405 new Puma infantry fighting vehicles
The German Bundestag’s budget committee cleared the way today for the procurement of 405 new Puma infantry fighting vehicles for the Bundeswehr. The Bundestag set the project in motion in September 2002 when it awarded a development contract for the new IFV, followed in 2004 by a €350-million procurement order for five pre-series vehicles and related services. These vehicles are currently undergoing intensive trials. The first serially produced Pumas are scheduled to enter service in 2010.
Today, more than thirty years after Germany first fielded the Marder IFV, the Puma is poised to significantly expand the Bundeswehr’s capabilities spectrum, providing it with an entirely new category of tactical vehicle. In any international comparison, the Puma clearly represents the cutting edge in contemporary armoured vehicle technology.
Well-protected yet light enough to airlift, the Puma’s modularity and expandability make it the perfect tool for international conflict management. No comparable vehicle provides its crew with such a high level of protection from typical conflict zone threats such as landmines, rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices.
For Düsseldorf-based Rheinmetall AG and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG of Munich, the order represents a combined total of some €3 billion in gross sales.