Puma IFV

Germany's premier tracked infantry fighting vehicle, armed with a 30 mm airburst cannon and Spike-LR missiles, protected by scalable modular armor, and propelled by the most powerful engine in its class — equipping the Bundeswehr's Panzergrenadier units and the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.

Overview

The Schützenpanzer Puma is the German Army’s main tracked infantry fighting vehicle, built by PSM — a joint venture of Rheinmetall and KNDS (formerly KMW). It fields a 30 mm airburst-capable autocannon, a long-range Spike-LR anti-tank missile, and a unique modular armor package that lets units tailor protection weight between 31.5 and 43 tonnes. The Puma has the highest motive power of any current IFV (~1,088 hp) and has been in Bundeswehr service since 2015; no export orders have been secured to date. A widely publicized December 2022 technical failure that sidelined an entire exercise platoon of 18 vehicles triggered a sustained reliability improvement program.

Development

The Puma was conceived from the late 1990s to replace the ageing Marder in German Panzergrenadier battalions. Army Technology notes that the system was designed to meet an increasing protection requirement while maintaining strategic mobility, and the first prototype was delivered in 2005. Series production commenced in 2010 and the initial vehicles entered service with the Bundeswehr in 2015, according to Rheinmetall. The first contract lot of 350 vehicles was completed by 2021; a second tranche of 229 additional vehicles was subsequently funded, bringing the planned German fleet to roughly 579, as recorded by Wikipedia.

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