BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Bundestag's budget committee has given the green light for a purchase of 50 more Puma infantry fighting vehicles, which have recently been plagued by failures. The specialist politicians voted by a large majority on Wednesday in favor of the armaments program, on which the federal government plans to spend around 1.5 billion euros. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) welcomed the decision and spoke of a "quantum leap in terms of protecting soldiers in terms of effectiveness in action, but also, for example, mobility." The Puma comes from the manufacturers Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall.

"Yes, the Puma had its difficulties, like every large weapon system that is developed. It's just not a marketable product, but one that had to be developed over many years," Pistorius said. "But we need a robust system with these capabilities that is ready for war." He said the Army has made a forceful and emphatic case for the infantry fighting vehicle. Pistorius pointed out that a price commitment period would have expired on May 12. Pistorius stressed, "Then we would have had to renegotiate and then it would have been more expensive for sure, would have taken more time."

The Puma is a combat vehicle developed and produced by Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH (RLS) and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). The procurement project was put on hold last year after all 18 infantry fighting vehicles used in a live-fire exercise failed, but was then green-lighted again after an internal investigation.

The state-of-the-art Puma replaces the older Marder infantry fighting vehicle, which has since been modernized several times and remains in service with the Bundeswehr. The "Handelsblatt" reported on Wednesday that the Federal Audit Office had raised concerns about the Puma order and recommended waiting for the technical conversion to a modernized variant before purchasing additional units.

Following the decision to place a second major order for the combat vehicles ("2nd batch"), politicians in the traffic light coalition said the purchase was important for the modernization of the armed forces, even if problems still needed to be fixed on the infantry fighting vehicle. However, a decision on measures imposed conditions on the Ministry of Defense for further action and required it to provide information.

"The procurement of the 2nd batch Puma is associated with considerable financial risks. The system has also not been fully tested technically. Nevertheless, the order must be placed now in order to close equipment gaps in the Bundeswehr," said Green Party House Leader Sebastian Schäfer. The defense ministry and industry are called upon to ensure the comprehensive functionality of the weapon system, he added.

FDP finance politician Karsten Klein said the security situation made it necessary for the Bundeswehr to get 50 more Pumas. "In particular, the Marder surrendered to Ukraine makes the rapid procurement of the 2nd batch all the more important," Klein said. "However, it must not be disregarded that the Puma, as a major project of the special procurement, still requires urgent improvements, which is why the retrofitting and new procurement against the background of the Ukraine war is not a simple mixed situation."/cn/DP/stw