The mishaps surrounding the Bundeswehr’s Puma infantry fighting vehicle do not stop: In several confidential letters from the Ministry of Finance to the Bundestag’s Budget and Defense Committee (available to Business Insider), the Federal Government now admits that the planned procurement of 50 new tanks (total costs: 1 .5 billion euros) costs 140 million euros more than expected – because, according to information from Business Insider, the contract that was ready to be signed was left in the Ministry of Defense for almost a year and a half.
Because of a ministry breakdown, Puma tanks now cost 140 million euros more
Literally it says: “Due to the delayed submission of the contract, which is still at the price level 12/2021, there has already been an increase of around 12.8 percent for the price level 12/2022. This corresponds to a price escalation by an additional EUR 138 million”. It is unclear why the contract failed.
It is said that the additional costs could still be cushioned by a buffer in the original cost calculation. But the Treasury warns that the risk of cost increases is “not insignificant”. The Ministry of Defense also stated “cost increases, late deliveries, project dependencies and performance delays,” it said. In particular, the Ministry of Finance considers it risky that 50 Pumas are to be purchased without the retrofitting of the existing tanks having been sufficiently tested, the components of which will then be part of the new fleet.
The confidential letter from the financiers to the parliamentarians is brimming with incomprehension about the colleagues at the Defense Ministry. It is pointed out that the Bundeswehr itself actually sees a need for 111 new Pumas. These could be paid for if the projects in the special fund were prioritized differently, according to the Treasury Ministry’s unusually open advice.
