In the debate about the lack of operational capability of the Puma armored personnel carriers in the Bundeswehr, the pressure on the manufacturers involved is increasing.

Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said during a visit to Slovakia on Tuesday that the industry was "responsible" for repairing the infantry fighting vehicle.

This task must be completed “very quickly”.

She also expects the defense companies involved, Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW), to have "a reliable perspective" on the longer-term operational readiness of the Puma, said Lambrecht.

"If that is not shown, then we have to make a decision - to the effect that we may not continue to use this system."

Jonas Jansen

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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The Federal Ministry of Defence, the Bundeswehr and the body responsible for repairing the army, and the companies involved in the armaments industry are said to have analyzed by the end of next week why all 18 Puma armored personnel carriers involved in a shooting exercise by the Bundeswehr failed.

It also depends on whether there is a further procurement order at all, i.e. a so-called 2nd lot, for the Puma tank, which is manufactured by the Düsseldorf armaments group Rheinmetall and KMW, which together with the French group Nexter belongs to the Dutch holding company KNDS .

Share price falls sharply again

On request, the companies are currently not commenting on the events surrounding the armored personnel carrier and on questions of what this could mean for future cooperation with the Bundeswehr.

Rheinmetall's share price was under pressure for the second day in a row on Tuesday, down a good 6 percent.

Since the beginning of the week, the paper has lost almost 12 percent in value.

The reputational damage affects all sides, the Bundeswehr as well as the manufacturers from the armaments industry.

It is still unclear where the mistakes are - i.e. whether they happened in the production or upgrading of the tanks for the NATO rapid reaction force or whether it could have been due to maintenance within the Bundeswehr.

Normally, the connection between the Bundeswehr and the manufacturers is close - and not only in Germany.

In June, Rheinmetall and KMW founded a joint venture in Lithuania to regularly repair the combat vehicles of the NATO armed forces, which includes the Puma there.

There are still many unanswered questions as to why this apparently didn't work in this case or why at least individual tanks could not be repaired.

The fact is that the Puma has a breakdown-ridden history.

At the beginning of the millennium, 405 tanks were originally planned at a price of around 3 billion euros, but then only 350 were made for around twice the price, which was also due to many modifications and specifications.

At the beginning of December, the budget committee approved the retrofitting of armored personnel carriers that had already been procured.