Germany finds serious problems with its Puma AFVs

This was reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Fire drills involving 18 such AFVs have reportedly shown a number of technical problems in the past few weeks, becoming a top concern for the Ministry of Defense as they are due to be deployed as part of NATO's rapid response force from next year.

The machines that are in service with the 37th tank-grenadier brigade started failing l after a few days, while the Leopard-2 tanks did not have such problems.

 The publication notes that the letter allegedly states that all of the 18 AFVs failed during the 8 days of the training due to various technical malfunctions.  Most of the problems arose with electronics.  As the commander writes, the military knew that such problems could arise, but it never happened on such a scale and it was not expected, because the equipment was not overloaded.

On the other hand, 80 to 90% of Leopard-2 tanks remained operational. Minor problems arose, but they could be eliminated in less than a day.

The Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, Eberhard Zorn, said that together with defense industry specialists, an immediate assessment of the damage to the equipment would be carried out, and added that Germany would be ready to fulfill its obligations within the framework of NATO in any case.  In rapid response forces, they can now be replaced by older but more reliable Marders.

• On December 6, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba called on Germany to demonstrate leadership and finally transfer Leopard 2 tanks, Patriot systems and Marder AFVs to Ukraine.
• On December 7, the US stated it supports the transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, but noted that this should take place at the initiative of Germany.
•  On December 8, it was revealed that the head of the defense committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, confirmed that the US would support Germany's transfer of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.