Billion-Euro Contract for Rheinmetall – Bundeswehr Upgrading Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle to New Design Status
Rheinmetall has won a major order from the German Bundeswehr in the armoured vehicle domain, representing a sales volume of well over half a billion euros. Issued through the joint venture company PSM GmbH, the contract encompasses upgrading the first lot of the Bundeswehr’s Puma infantry fighting vehicle, bringing them up to a uniform enhanced design status. PSM GmbH is co-owned by Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, each holding a 50 percent share in the company.
The contract for modernizing Germany’s fleet of Puma IFVs was signed on 28 June 2021 at the Federal Office for Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) in Koblenz. Work is slated to begin immediately in July 2021 and is expected to be complete in 2029. Now official, the initial phase of the order encompasses 154 vehicles, generating sales for the consortium of €1.04 billion. Rheinmetall’s share here comes to €501 million (with value-added tax), which will be booked as an incoming order at the start of the third quarter of 2021. For Rheinmetall, anticipated consortium-internal subcontracting, e.g., in the electronic vision systems domain, is expected to mean additional orders in the three-digit million-euro range.
The contract also contains an option for modernization of a further 143 Puma infantry fighting vehicles, which for the PSM consortium would mean additional sales volume totaling €820 million, once again including VAT. Well over half this amount would be allotted to Rheinmetall. The major refit now being embarked on is intended to bring the majority of the first lot of the Bundeswehr’s existing fleet of 350 Puma vehicles up to S1 enhanced design status. In preparation for the NATO High Readiness Joint Task Force VJTF 2023, which will be furnished by the Bundeswehr, forty Puma IFVs have already been upgraded to S1 status. Of Germany’s 350 Pumas, the only ones not included in the modernization program are the 13 driver training vehicles.
Among other things, the new S1 version of the Puma is characterized by standoffcapable effectors like the MELLS multirole lightweight guided missile system, additional sensors such as the new driver’s vision system, and improved command-and-control architecture. The parabolic and driver vision system heralds the end of the periscope era. For the first time, the entire crew will be able to “see-through” the armor, day and night. The fusion mode combines daylight vision with a high-quality thermal image, enabling early detection of camouflage targets around the clock. The S1 version of the Puma version is the first western combat vehicle that includes a system of this type as a standard feature.
