Posted on 12/12/2010 5:32:40 AM PST by sukhoi-30mki
Serial start for new PUMA infantry fighting vehicle
December 07, 2010
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall handed over on December 6th the first two PUMA infantry fighting vehicles to the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement (BWB) in Kassel for verification tests. This marks the start for the contractual delivery of 405 ordered vehicles to the German Armed Forces. The contract with a volume of roughly 3.1 bn € was signed in July 2009. The delivery of the PUMA is a significant milestone for the most important procurement program of the German Army.
"This is a crucial day on the way of introducing the PUMA to the German Armed Forces. We have undergone a challenging period of research and development, pushing the limits of this technology", stated Frank Haun, CEO of KMW and Klaus Eberhardt, CEO of Rheinmetall.
Technology of extremes: lessons learned from current operations The development of the new infantry fighting vehicle is marked by technological extremes. It will not only be the new transport platform for the German Army but also a cutting-edge technology system. With its unique balance of tactical and strategic mobility, survivability and lethality, the PUMA gives the German Armed Forces a state-of-the-art infantry fighting vehicle systematically tailored to the current and future operational requirements of the German military both at home and abroad. The development achievement was guided by the demand to induce latest mission experience from current operations and to consequently deliver effective mission performance. To that extent this has not been realized in any other infantry fighting vehicle.
The PUMA is scheduled to undergo an intense round of testing and verification. This includes extreme summer and winter trials abroad. The complex preparations are deemed to ensure the smooth introduction of the system to the German Army. PUMA sets the new standard - maximum protection for the crew, fire power, mobility and networked operations. No comparable vehicle provides its crew with such a high level of protection from typical conflict zone threats such as landmines, rocket propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices. Well-protected yet light enough to airlift, the PUMA's modularity and expandability make it the perfect tool for international conflict management. The PUMA, whose main armament and ammunition had to be modified to match the altered threat spectrum, represents the ultimate in lethality and survivability .
Today, more than thirty years after Germany first fielded the MARDER, the PUMA is poised to significantly expand the Bundeswehr's capabilities spectrum, providing it with an entirely new category of tactical vehicle. In any international comparison, the PUMA clearly represents the cutting edge in contemporary armoured vehicle technology.
Source: Krauss-Maffei Wegmann
Treadhead ping.
I wonder how many are still active here?
LOL - a high-tech BMP.
Every time I see PUMA I think of a buddy we called PUMA.
PUMA = Possibly the Ugliest Man Alive
Still active.....
It just seems strange to me to see mirrors on an armored vehicle.
Safety first!
Oh yeah, there were a few I knew were, you among them. But as a “for instance”, Cannoneer No. 4, whose page I pulled the ping list from, has not posted since 2/2008.
It's just a driver satisfaction tool....
Nice to see what you just squished in the rear mirror....
Mech-Inf ping
Geez... this might help.
KEY DATA:
Crew
3 (commander, gunner, driver)
Troops
8 equipped troops
Combat Weight
31.45t (Level A armour)
Air Transportable
A400M aircraft
PERFORMANCE:
Maximum Speed (Road)
70km/h (forwards), 30km/h (backwards)
LEVEL A ARMOUR PROTECTION:
All-Round Protection
14.5mm MG rounds and artillery fragments
Front and Flank Protection
30mm cannon rounds
Front Armour
Hollow charge rounds
Mine Protection
10kg blast and EFP mines
Featured Suppliers:
Data Device Corporation - High-Reliability Data Networking Technology, COTS Products and Subsystems
ISO Group - Spare Parts, Components and Logistics for Military Vehicles and Land Equipment
Kappa optronics GmbH - Day and Night Sight Systems, Barrel Inspection, Marksmen Training and X-Ray Detection
Kidde Aerospace & Defense - Automatic Fire Extinguishing Systems for Armored Vehicles
http://www.army-technology.com/projects/puma_tracked/
Puma weapons
The vehicle is armed with a remotely controlled weapon station, developed by Kraus-Maffei Wegmann, which is fitted with a dual feed Mauser 30mm MK 30-2 cannon. Rheinmetall is responsible for the integration of the Mauser cannon and the ammunition handling system. The MK 30-2, which is in production for the Spanish Pizarro and Austrian Ulan IFV, has a rate of fire of 700 rounds a minute and a range of up to 3km.
“The MK 30-2 has a rate of fire of 700 rounds a minute and a range of up to 3km.”
The cannon fires 30mm APFSDS-T (armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot - tracer) rounds with a muzzle velocity of 1,385m/sec.
The rounds, developed by RWM Schweiz AG (formerly Oerlikon Contraves Pyrotec) and being qualified in Switzerland for deployment in the Swiss and Austrian armed forces, have entered volume production. The round is not fitted with a depleted uranium penetrator and is non-toxic.
The MK 30-2 cannon also fires the FAPIDS-T (frangible armour-piercing incendiary discarding sabot - tracer) round that is deployed against hard and soft targets.
A new round, the 30mm air burst munition (ABM) by RWM Schweiz AG is undergoing qualification trials with the German Army for use on the Puma.
The ABM round (173mm long, 30mm diameter) contains an electronic timer, an ejection charge and 135 cylinder-shaped tungsten alloy bars or projectiles. The electronic timer is programmed by inductive coupling through a device installed in the muzzle of the cannon. The timer initiates the ejection charge which releases and disperses the tungsten projectiles before impact with the target.
Eurospike is offering the Spike-LR fire-and-forget anti-tank missile for the German Army requirement for a guided missile system to arm the Puma armoured vehicle. In December 2008, a contract was signed between PSM and the German Ministry of Defence for the integration of the Spike missile system on Puma vehicles.
Self protection
In August 2006, EADS Defence Electronics was awarded a contract for the MUSS Multifunctional Self-Protection System for the Puma vehicles. MUSS consists of a missile warner with ultraviolet sensor (based on the EADS MILDS airborne missile warner), laser warner, central computer and electronic / pyrotechnic countermeasures.
MUSS can handle four threats simultaneously and is effective in 360° azimuth and 70° elevation.
Puma engine
The vehicle is fitted with a new high power density 892 series diesel engine developed by MTU. The MTU 892 series is rated at 800kW which provides the Puma with a power-to-weight ratio of 25.4kW/t.
The running gear is decoupled so the vehicle has low noise and vibration characteristics. Krauss Maffei Wegmann is responsible for the vehicle’s hydropneumatic suspension system. Diehl has been selected to supply the tracks.
Battlefield management system
In April 2008, the German Defence Procurement Office awarded a contract to PSM for the integration of battlefield management systems on Puma. The system integration brings network-enabled capability to the vehicle.
Armour variants
The vehicle is built with the option of three levels of protection to suit the operational requirements. The versions weigh 29.4t, 31.45t and 43t.
The basic level 1, 29.4t, version provides protection against explosively formed projectile (EFP) mines, top attack artillery projectiles and has all round protection against 14.5mm kinetic energy rounds and RPG-7 rocket propelled grenades.
The front and flank of the vehicle are fitted with a higher level of protection against 30mm kinetic energy rounds.
Level A has been selected as the baseline armour protection for the Puma IFV for the German Army.
Level A gives all round protection against 14.5mm machine gun rounds and artillery fragments. The front and flank are protected against 30mm cannon rounds. The front armour protects against hollow charge rounds. The vehicle is also protected against 10kg blast and EFP mines. The German Army Puma with level A protection has a combat weight of 31.45t and is air transportable in the A400M aircraft.
Additional armour modules can be fitted to the hull and turret to provide level C protection. With level C armour protection the combat weight is increased to 43t. It would be necessary to deploy four A400M transporters to carry three Puma infantry fighting vehicles fitted with level C armour protection, the fourth aircraft lifting the additional modular armour fits.
Sad....he was a good one.
Thanks...back home in a few an will use computer vs blkberry to post....:o)
Stay Safe..
Yes, posting via a smartphone is a pain, no doubt! Reading isn’t bad, but posting is no fun.
no TOW launchers???
Bundeswehr, welcome to 1982.
A gun with STAB.
Thermals
Something that can fire a real APFSDS.
I bet they can fire their AT weapon from under the armor now?
Maybe they even discovered a spall liner?
Wow- it’s even designed with the idea for add on armor....... Sort of like the M2A0 was already, that already came with the rails for ERA.
I imagine, and I have’t messed with the Puma, that this is fairly different design than the Marder judging from the road-wheels, it seems to incorporates some newer concepts like an increased protection against mines and IEDs since the older vehicles were conceived to operate in what is essentially friendly territory in a defense and were only made to take 6.5Kg mines (the biggest feasibly deployed through rocket artillery years past and the largest feasible common threat). It’s not like you’ll have bad guys behind your lines burying T10 AT mines in a Cold War scenario. Vehicles like the older Marder, Bradley......weren’t designed to deal with large mines and IEDs in mind. Likewise they weren’t designed for a high degree of depoyabilility, pre positioned in Europe etc. Scenarios like in the Balkans, Iraq, Somalia....... Were not the norm. The Germans are heading in the right direction with such a vehicle. I might not spec out in every aspect as number one, with the biggest gun or most massive armor, but who cares if you have none where you need them? The ability to move and logistically sustain the equipment matters in those places where you need them, matters.
This is the right answer for the time in which we live.
Their old Marder was not only technologically antiquated, it was conceptually obsolete. Steel hull that spalled bad, no stab, 20mm with poor ap capabilities, a Milan that lacked range, required its user to expose himself, one shot ready to fire, was for the longest time jammable with shitora, and had anemic behind armor effects. No thermals for the longest time, no gps for the longest time, no ERA, no defensive aids which they also now added to the Puma (realize, ever since ODS, the Bradley came with a defensive aid suite, that’s largely why they had to massively upgrade the electrical system on ODS because of the demands of a MCD, laser detectors etc). The Marder wasn’t a first choice pick when it came to IFVs.
The very best to you and yours.
Semper Fi
Tommie
The Euro’s do things on the cheap, so they tend to recycle systems on various platforms even if they aren’t ideal or don’t exploit the full potential of the platform or weapon system. That’s why in the Cold War they used a HOT, Milan and TOW (all with SACLOS guidance) which cut costs but made them susceptible to jamming and also didn’t really bring the full potential out of some of their air platforms that were using a wire guided HOT on a helicopter with heavy down draft that couldn’t move much and had limited range. In that application the laser guided Hellfire was far more potent. The point is the Germans will push for commonality between systems to cut costs and they tend to create jack of all trades and master of none.
Hence they will use a Eurospike, a European clone of a Javelin. Not a bad system, but this system is really designed around the concept of a medium not a heavy AT system. Eurospike come from the Israeli Gil/Spike missile, which is a clone of Javelin which we began fielding in 1997 in limited numbers and the Israelis in 1999. What the Germans will do is take this base weapon system and have “versions” that attempt to maximize what they can deliver for that specific platform. We do this too, just not to the extent they do. http://www.eurospike.com/family.html
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.