BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The CDU/CSU in the Bundestag is rebuking Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) for what it sees as too slow an investigation into the recent failures of the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. "The holder of the command and command authority seems to care more about her own Christmas vacation than finally clearing up and cleaning up," the defense policy spokesman for the Union faction, Florian Hahn (CSU), told Die Welt (Monday). "If you wonder about current deficiencies in the Bundeswehr, you can state: The fish stinks from the head." He added that the minister had broken her own promise to create transparency as quickly as possible.

Two weeks ago, it had become known that during a firing exercise of the Bundeswehr for participation in the NATO intervention force VJTF, all 18 of the tanks used had failed. The tracked vehicle, plagued by numerous technical problems, had not been declared fit for combat until 2021. The defense companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) then announced shortly before Christmas that they intended to repair the defective infantry fighting vehicles by mid-January at the latest.

Hahn has asked the ministry for the current state of affairs and the results of an announced comprehensive assessment of the situation - without a response, he says. Hahn doubts that the industry is unilaterally to blame: "The minister was obviously completely wrong in her initial diagnosis."/toz/DP/zb