Bundeswehr Orders 50 New PUMA IFVs for €1B

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall have won €1 billion to build further fifty Puma infantry fighting vehicles.

Including value added tax, the total value of the order comes to €1.087 billion. Of this amount, €574 million will go to KMW and €501 million to Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, both of which are serving as subcontractors in the project.

A contract to this effect has now been issued by Germany’s Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) in Koblenz. The general contractor is Projekt System & Management GmbH (PSM), a joint venture of KMW and Rheinmetall. A framework agreement was signed enabling the subsequent call-off of further Puma IFVs.

In addition to the 50 armoured fighting vehicles, the order encompasses spare part packages and special tool sets as well as eight MELLS flight-phase simulators. Furthermore, an option exists for additional driver training vehicles and the integration of a turret-independent secondary weapon system, or TSWA.

Delivery is set to start in December 2025 and be complete by the beginning of 2027.

The most advanced and effective system of its kind, the Puma infantry fighting vehicle is the principal weapons system of the German Army’s mechanized infantry. It can carry a crew of nine: the vehicle commander, gunner and driver, plus a section of six infantry soldiers.

Only recently, in February 2023, BAAINBw awarded an order for the comprehensive modernization of 143 Puma IFVs in the Bundeswehr inventory that had not yet been upgraded to the latest S1 standard. The upgrade, to be complete in 2029, includes among other things the integration of high-resolution day- and night-capable camera systems, the MELLS multirole lightweight guided missile system as well as the integration of digital radio equipment. When they leave the factory, the fifty newly ordered vehicles will also conform to the latest S1 standard.