In a significant move towards strengthening its armed forces, the German Parliament gave its approval for the purchase of 50 Puma infantry fighting vehicles, amounting to €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion).
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confirmed the decision made by the budget committee in the lower house of parliament during a meeting held in Berlin. He also hinted at the possibility of another order later this year.
“The order will now be placed very quickly — and then we will continue and hope to be able to make a second order in the course of this year,” he told reporters.
Following the green light, the procurement process for the Puma vehicles will commence swiftly, with hopes of securing a second order within the year. Pistorius expressed his enthusiasm, highlighting the Puma’s remarkable advancements in troop protection, effectiveness, and mobility, referring to it as a “quantum leap.”
Pistorius highlighted that the expiration of a price-fixing period is imminent, specifically on May 12.
“Then we would have had to renegotiate and then it would certainly have become more expensive and would have taken time again.” He emphasized.
Manufactured jointly by Rheinmetall AG and Krauss-MaffeiWegmann GmbH & Co. KG, the initial batch of Puma combat vehicles is anticipated to be delivered in the coming year, according to Marcus Faber, a defense spokesman from the Free Democrats, a partner in Scholz’s ruling coalition. Faber proposed that once the new vehicles are in service, Germany could supply older infantry fighting vehicles, such as Rheinmetall’sMarder, to Ukraine to assist in its defense against Russian aggression.
The cutting-edge “Puma” combat vehicle supersedes the older “Marder” infantry fighting vehicle, which has undergone multiple modernizations and remains operational within the Bundeswehr.
The approval of this order aligns with Germany’s broader strategy of modernizing its armed forces, a response triggered by Russia’s conflict with Ukraine. In light of the Kremlin’s aggression last year, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged €100 billion to address the long-standing issue of military underinvestment.