2023A German soldier is seen on a Puma infantry fighting vehicle of the German armed forces during an exercise at a military training area in Altengrabow near Moeckern (Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images)COLOGNE Germany — The German army’s upgrades to the Puma infantry fighting vehicle will be late because of problems with the vehicles’ software Officials at the Bundeswehr, Germany’s military, had previously planned to accept an initial batch of upgraded Pumas — 15 copies, according to local military-news website Augengeradeaus.net — by the end of 2023 But alterations to be performed by the manufacturer a joint venture of Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann are now estimated to take until late February The Puma vehicles have been something of a white whale for the military here Meant to catapult Germany’s analog ground forces onto the digital battlefield their development and modernization has taken years longer than expected After a report a year ago that 18 Pumas broke down during an exercise, a ministry assessment portrayed the vehicle as revolutionary but error-prone the promise of a significant capability leap over the incumbent decades-old Marder vehicle fleet kept government spending on the program coming According to a defense ministry statement, the delay of at least two months is unlikely to affect core testing and training activities planned for the modernized Pumas. The success of those events, in turn, has a direct effect on pledges made to allies. For example, defense officials plan to station Pumas in Lithuania, where designs are taking shape for a permanent German troop presence. The vehicles also will be a staple in Berlin’s future troop contributions to NATO. Sebastian Sprenger is associate editor for Europe at Defense News, reporting on the state of the defense market in the region, and on U.S.-Europe cooperation and multi-national investments in defense and global security. Previously he served as managing editor for Defense News. He is based in Cologne, Germany. Facebook pageTwitter feedRSS feedDefense News © 2025 2024A German soldier is seen on a Puma infantry fighting vehicle of the German armed forces during an exercise at a military training area in Altengrabow near Moeckern (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/AFP via Getty Images)BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s defense minister on Thursday announced a plan to streamline and reorganize the country’s military command as part of efforts to make the armed forces of NATO’s most populous European member “war-capable.” Pistorius has pointed to the danger of a possible future Russian attack on a NATO country and said repeatedly that the German military must become “war-capable,” a choice of words that some in Germany find jarring given the country’s longstanding post-World War II culture of military caution. “I am convinced it is one of the few words that really describes correctly the imperative here,” he told reporters in Berlin. “I respect the fact that others struggle with the word, but I also note that most who do have no problem with the substance behind it.” His overhaul plan envisions a single “operational military command,” which he hopes will enable quick decisions and eliminate duplication. Currently, the Bundeswehr has two command centers: one responsible for planning and running deployments abroad and the other for the defense of Germany itself. An existing “cyber and information” department, whose responsibilities include fending off cyberattacks, protecting electronic infrastructure and analyzing hybrid threats such as disinformation, will be expanded and officially become a fourth arm of the military alongside the army, air force and navy. Speaking on NATO’s 75th anniversary, Pistorius underlined “the challenge of resetting the Bundeswehr for a new and old challenge — that of defending the country and the alliance.” In 2022, Scholz pledged to increase Germany’s defense spending to a NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product — a mark that, along with several other countries, it had long fallen short of — and set up a 100 billion-euro ($108 billion euro) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. “We have (spending of) 2% this year and we will reach it in the coming years as well, but also must reach it so that we can do justice to our responsibility and our role in NATO,” Pistorius said. Details of how Germany will reach the 2% mark once the special military fund is exhausted, likely in 2027, remain unclear. And although progress is being made with orders for new equipment, the parliamentary commissioner for the military said last month that the Bundeswehr “still has too little of everything.” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stands in front of a Puma tank as he addresses troops of the German armed forces Bundeswehr at a military training area in Altengrabow near Moeckern Germany: Leopard tanks pledged by Germany to help Ukraine repel Russia's invasion will arrive in "late March Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Thursday Training of Ukrainian troops on German Marder infantry fighting vehicles will start in the next few days "and for the Ukrainian soldiers who will be trained on the Leopard it will be a little later" Berlin finally agreed to deliver the powerful German-made Leopard tanks on Wednesday after weeks of intense pressure from Kyiv and many of its European allies Germany will provide 14 Leopard 2 A6 tanks from its Bundeswehr supplies Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament It is also granting approval for other European countries to send the German-made tanks from their own stocks to Ukraine with the aim of quickly assembling "two tank battalions with Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine" The Leopard 2 is seen as one of the best-performing tank models worldwide and is widely used across Europe meaning spare parts and ammunition can be easily obtained The United States later also said it would send 31 Abrams tanks one of the most powerful and sophisticated weapons in the US army Although Western countries have already sent Ukraine everything from artillery to Patriot anti-missile defence systems Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that Russia viewed the tank deliveries as "direct involvement in the conflict" But with Ukraine gearing up for a counteroffensive to push back increasingly entrenched Russians in the east and south the allies are now scrambling to send the powerful weapon who was appointed as German defence minister only last week was speaking during a visit to German troops in the state of Saxony-Anhalt A fire was caused by a letterbox slit in Leipzig-Möckern A group of five people between the ages of 14 and 18 (German and Syrian) are suspected of having committed a serious arson in the Leipzig district of Möckern on Sunday A burning object was allegedly thrown from the group of suspects through the mailbox slot of the door into the apartment of an 88-year-old woman on Sunday afternoon A curtain on the door caught fire and set off the smoke alarm The senior citizen noticed the fire in time and extinguished it She sustained minor injuries in the process which were treated on site by the emergency services the group is said to have acted similarly at another door who were identified during the police operation were released at the end of the police operation The property damage caused is not yet known © 2009 - 2025 DieSachsen.de | Alle Rechte vorbehalten | Entwickelt mit publizer in Sachsen and we would like to use cookies to further improve your incredible experience at DieSachsen.de.