Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle - Program
Germany is developing the Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle as a replacement for the aging Marder. The Puma IFV project would be six years behind schedule, if the first of the vehicles was in use by November 2014. Germany's unified armed forces received its first production of Puma armored infantry fighting vehicles (AIFV) on 23 June 2015 during a ceremony at the Unterluss Proving Ground. Original projections were too optimistic in allocating 2.5 years to come up with a demonstration model for the new infantry fighting vehicle.
In 1988 Krauss-Maffei received a government contract for two test versions of the PUMA light track-type vehicle. Even though this order fell short of a full-size contract, it did prove that Secretary Prof Dr Timmermann and his Chief of the Armed Forces Staff Lieutenant General von Sandrart had acted on their suggestion of the summer of 1986, when they recommended at a demonstration ofthe PUMA in Munich that it be tested for its usability.
The Projekt System & Management GmbH (PSM), Germany, was founded in 2002 and is a joint venture of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG and Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH. The PSM is responsible for the co-ordination of the development and production of the new Puma armoured infantry fighting vehicle for the German Army on the industry side and acts as the prime contractor.
On November 08, 2007 the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approved the option trigger for raising series of Puma. Coupled with the enactment of the budget 2008, the proof to be provided ready for production as well as the approval of realisation approving the army of 405 of the new "big cats" gets in the period 2010 to 2020 PUMA. Thus the mechanized infantry force including the 5 before series vehicles will have 410 systems, a new quality in the army for Panzergrenadiere after more than 30 years of service by the Marten.
On 24 April 2008, PSM signed a contract with the German Defence Procurement Office for the integration of the German Army’s Battlefield Management System (supplied by EADS) into the PUMA. This integration of the Battlefield Management System ensures that the PUMA has network enabled capabilities. The open interface of the PUMA allows the integration of any future Battlefield Management System of any Defence Force.
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall handed over on 06 December 2010 in time the first two PUMA infantry fighting vehicles to the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) in Kassel for verification tests. This marked the start for the contractual delivery of 405 ordered vehicles to the German Armed Forces. The contract with a volume of roughly 3.1 bn Euro was signed in July 2009. The delivery of the PUMA is a significant milestone for the most important procurement program of the German Army. "This is a crucial day on the way of introducing the PUMA to the German Armed Forces. We have undergone a challenging period of research and development, pushing the limits of this technology" stated Frank Haun, CEO of KMW and Klaus Eberhardt, CEO of Rheinmetall.
Projekt System und Management GmbH together with Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann formally handed over the Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle PUMA to the German Bundeswehr at 24th June 2015. More than 150 guests of industry, politics and German armed forces could be demonstrated the extraordinary effectiveness of the weapon system PUMA at premises of Rheinmetall in Unterluss. Now that the Puma has entered active service with the German Army, the first step is an intensive train the trainer phase, as reported in news in April. This process is underway at a German Army training centre in Munster, and ran to the end of this year. The first “regular” training course for a mechanized infantry unit started at the beginning of 2016. The on-site services of the PUMA´s and of the relevant training equipment are provided by the industry since the beginning of this year. They work together hand in hand with the military maintenance personnel.
Germany took delivery of the first two production Puma IFVs in Kassel, Germany, in December 2010 for verification trials but since then it remained in low-rate production with about 20 vehicles completed by 2014. At that time training of operational users was to begin in mid-2015. The original contract covered the supply of 405 Puma IFVs, but this was subsequently reduced to a total of 350 vehicles. There are two Puma AIFV production lines - one for Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and oen for Rheinmetall Landsysteme. As of 2014 production should be completed in 2020.
The original plan included the delivery of 405 Pumas, however by 2015 the number had been reduced to 305, including eight driver training vehicles. The full delivery was expected to be complete by 2020.
Rheinmetall took a key role in equipping the NATO spearhead Very High Joint Readiness Task Force 2023 (VJTF 2023), which will be furnished by the German Bundeswehr. Contracts were awarded in July 2019 to a consortium for the “System Panzergrenadier VJTF 2023” project, in which Rheinmetall’s share comes to over €470 million, including value added tax. Work was set to continue through to the end of the VJTF readiness phase in 2024.
On 11 July 2019, the Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-service Support awarded a corresponding contract to ARGE Puma, a consortium consisting of Puma manufacturer PSM Projekt System Management GmbH – a joint venture in which Rheinmetall holds a 50% stake – and Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH. Subcontracting within ARGE would take place shortly.
“System Panzergrenadier” links the Puma infantry fighting vehicle – the mainstay of the German Army’s mechanized infantry – with the modular Future Soldier – Expanded System (IdZ-ES) soldier system, in an advanced, network-enabled warfare environment. Included in the “System Panzergrenadier VJTF 2023” package is a comprehensive combat performance upgrade of forty-one Puma infantry fighting vehicles, coupled with additional measures for improving communication between the infantry fighting vehicles and dismounted infantrymen. For Rheinmetall, the total value of this order comes to €258.3 million, including value added tax. The systems will be delivered at the end of 2020/beginning of 2021.
Among other things, the package also encompasses complete logistic support of the VJTF Pumas for a period of five years, i.e. spare parts, special tools and spare parts logistics. Also included is a new generation of digital radios for the infantry fighting vehicles as well as integration of the MELLS multirole light guided missile system, significantly expanding the capabilities spectrum of Puma. New daylight and thermal imaging cameras and a colour display feature in the upgrade too. Optimized day and night vision will increase the range of reconnaissance, while simultaneously widening the crew’s field of view. Furthermore, new training resources will enable the unit to train in a highly realistic manner.
Closely linked to the hardware of the new optronic systems and monitors for the infantry fighting vehicles is the contract for development of the “Vision Enhancement, Chassis”, which is already underway. Including value added tax, it represents sales of €67.2 million, including value added tax.
Furthermore, Rheinmetall is equipping the mechanized infantry companies of the VJTF 2023 with “TacNet”, its battle management system (BMS). In addition, an initial lot of ten platoon versions of the “Future Soldier – Expanded System” soldier system will be brought up to modern VJTF 2023 standard. Improved communication between the Puma crew and the dismounted infantry section will result in a continuously updated, uniform common operational picture. This way, Rheinmetall gives mechanized infantry a command-and-control capability that extends from the company commander to the individual rifleman on the ground. These modernization moves will mean incoming orders for Rheinmetall worth €146.5 million, including value added tax.
“System Panzergrenadier VJTF 2023” substantially enhances the fighting strength of the VJTF 2023. At the same time, Rheinmetall views these measures as a template for further modernization and digitization of the Bundeswehr. Modernizing the command and control capabilities of complete mechanized infantry companies and bringing the IdZ-ES up to VJTF 2023 standard involves modifying the hardware and software. Dispensing with the “electronic backbone” is one key innovation. Others include advanced new radio systems for dismounted troops and infantry fighting vehicles, which result in improved command capabilities as well as enabling secure transmission of large amounts of data.
During development of the new vision systems and their integration into the Puma, an initial lot of five sets of prototype assemblies was fabricated and integrated into five standard vehicles. These tasks were complete by 2021. Verification then took place at the Bundeswehr’s technical centres by 2023. Furthermore, digitization of the vision technology proceeded in tandem with implementation of NATO Generic Vehicle Architecture (NGVA) in the Puma. It forms the foundation for the future sensor-to-shooter nexus. Already underway, the networking of sensors and effectors in individual vehicles will soon enable the networking of sensors and effectors in entire units and formations. As a result, the Puma will be one of the world’s first digitized combat vehicles.
The availability/readiness/reliability of the Puma has been increased successfully after a special support agreement had been signed with the industry in mid-2020. While the Puma had a readiness of last year's readiness was about 30%, it is now about 50% using the Bundeswehr's methodology - in the media some people considers this methodology flawed. Basically the Bundeswehr only counts the readiness of vehicles currently assigned and delivered to its own units. If a vehicle is sent back for maintenance/upgrades/refurbishment, the Bundeswehr excludes it from its statistics.
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