A general denounces the shortcomings of the new and modern main battle tank ‘Puma’
Not a single tank of the German unit that will form the core of NATO’s intervention force next year is operational. The general in charge of the 10th tank division of the Bundeswehr, the federal army, has denounced that his elite company’s 18 modern ‘Puma’ battle tanks were all damaged after several days of maneuvering.
They broke down one by one until none were operational, Major General Rupert von Butler reports in a several-page letter to his superiors at the Federal Ministry of Defense to which “Der Spiegel” has had access and caused great commotion in Berlin by confirming the poor state of German military equipment.
The unit affected is the 37th Tank Brigade, which is due to join NATO’s new rapid reaction force, the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2023. The general emphasizes that these are total failures and writes in his message that the last two operational ‘Puma’ failed yesterday after an hour and a half during firing maneuvers and with defects in the gun turrets. c
The senior officer’s report highlights that it is the state-of-the-art tank electronics that are causing the biggest problems and underlines that there was a cable fire in the driver’s cab in one of the damaged tanks. He adds that the troops are used to failures in the new ‘Puma’, but that “these have not been very common until now”.
Rupert von Butler further points out that the exercises in northern Germany took place on level ground and the tanks were not supposed to perform at their best. The senior officer also warns that the 37th Brigade will be out of action in three or four months.
Eberhard Zorn, the highest officer of the German army as Inspector General, confirmed that everything possible will be done to restore this unit to combat effectiveness as soon as possible and that, together with military industry specialists, the failures of the tank will be thoroughly investigated. “The goal is to make the ‘Puma’ operational,” Zorn told a local agency, assuring that this country will “fulfill its commitments to NATO by January 1.”
The modern and innovative main battle tank ‘Puma’ was declared fit for combat last year. Developed and produced by German arms industries Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, it has posed nothing but problems since it entered the armed forces.
“You can imagine how the troops appreciate the reliability of the ‘Puma'”, emphasizes the misfortune general himself in his message, which confirms that “despite the meticulous preparations, the operational set-up of the vehicle is a lottery” and “it has nothing to do with the usual reliability of German off-road vehicles.”
Rupert von Butler even questions the agreed purchase of new units of the “Puma” tank, because “the results fall far short of expectations” and advises to resort to the “veteran and reliable” main battle tank “Marder” for now, being taken out of service.
The Major General’s letter has fallen like a bombshell on the ministry because of its international repercussions, says ‘Der Spiegel’, emphasizing that the complainant himself is criticized for sending copies to several agencies, making them available to the press at the same time leaked. when the Chief of Defense, the Social Democrat Christine Lambrecht, is criticized for her management and slowness in modernizing and reforming the Bundeswehr.
The federal army ensures that Germany can also fulfill its commitments to NATO without the ‘Puma’, as it can fall back on the ‘Marder’ as an alternative solution.
Source: La Verdad
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