Most damage to Puma fighting vehicles 'trivial,' manufacturer says

Germany's Puma infantry fighting vehicles that broke down during a firing exercise in December have almost all been repaired.
"The assessment of the vehicles was completed at the end of last week, and almost all the damage was trivial," a spokesman for the manufacturer Rheinmetall told dpa in Berlin on Monday in response to a question.
"Of 18 vehicles, 17 are driving again," he said.
Extensive repairs were only necessary on one of the vehicles, which had a cable fire, he said.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence explained that a status report on the damage was available but he did not give any exact details on Monday.
A plan is being worked out with all those involved on how the Puma "could be used in the long term, even under combat conditions," he said. "That will certainly take a few more days."
After all 18 deployed armoured personnel carriers failed during a firing exercise, Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht pulled the emergency brake and had the Puma removed from a NATO commitment in the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF).
The German soldiers reported ready for deployment are now equipped with the older Marder (Marten) infantry fighting vehicle.
Questions as to how serious the technical problems were or whether operating or maintenance errors were involved remain unanswered.
The Puma infantry fighting vehicle was not declared combat-ready until 2021 and is being built jointly by the defence companies Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).