Puma AIFV enters service amid spiralling costs
The German Army’ new Puma AIFV will enter operational service in early April.
But the Puma acquisition programme that started in 2002 has been hampered by much delay and Initial Operating Capability is expected to be reached four years late.
A German MoD equipment report published on 19 March indicated that costs of the programme have gone up by 103%, much more than other ongoing procurement programmes.
In part this is caused by the reduction in the numbers of Puma AIFVs on order which have fallen from 1152 to a mere 350 vehicles.
A high degree of concurrency with regard
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