[War & Business] The Nation of Tank Divisions: The Humiliation of German Tanks

"Puma" Tank, the World's Most Expensive, Plagued by Defects
Budget Cuts and Forced Consolidation Lead to Operational Failures

The Puma tank developed by the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) [Image source=KMW website]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Germany’s 'Puma' tank, known as the most expensive tank in the world, has been found to have numerous defects, tarnishing the pride of Germany, a country once called the land of tanks. With the older Marder tanks set to participate instead in the NATO joint exercises scheduled for next month, the high standing of German defense companies has also been dented.

However, the situation is too complex to simply attribute it to over 30 years of peace and security complacency following the end of the Cold War. The numerous defects in the Puma tank reflect the complicated history of Germany’s next-generation tank development, which has been repeatedly started and abandoned since the 1990s.

The German government initially planned and pursued the development of the 'Marder 2,' the next-generation model of the existing main battle tank, the Marder, starting in the 1980s. However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War, defense budgets were drastically cut, leading to the cancellation of the development plan. This was due to a complacent judgment that the likelihood of tank battles occurring in Europe was low.

The next-generation tank development plan resurfaced after the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001. As the US and the world declared a war on terror and security concerns intensified, the need for next-generation tanks was emphasized again.

The problem was the development direction of the next-generation tank. Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, public opinion grew that there was a need to develop light and small infantry fighting vehicles capable of quickly ending terrorism in urban areas. Accordingly, the development direction for the next-generation tank was set toward developing a new infantry fighting vehicle.

However, as concerns about the aging of old tanks also grew and public opinion for the need of next-generation tanks increased, the German government revised the direction to develop a tank that could be used both as a tank and as an infantry fighting vehicle if necessary. The Puma tank was developed under this goal. The German government intended to use the Puma tank as both the main battle tank and infantry fighting vehicle, while reducing the total number of tanks to cut operating costs.

The problem was that the purposes and performance requirements for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are completely different. Tanks need thick armor and powerful cannons to break through frontlines in ground battles. Infantry fighting vehicles, however, need to be as light as possible to be transportable by helicopter and must have very high mobility.

Trying to satisfy both conditions caused confusion in the design itself. The Puma tank, which began development in 2002, produced a prototype only in 2013, and although it started deployment in 2015, various problems arose. By reducing the weight too much, the armor became too thin to be used as a tank, and a hatch design flaw caused water to accumulate inside the tank when it rained.

After continuous design changes, the tank finally received combat suitability certification, and 350 units were transferred and deployed to the German military in March last year. During the 20 years from development to deployment, much more advanced modern tanks centered around the US and Russia flooded the defense market, erasing the Puma tank’s performance advantage.

This was a failure caused by a combination of sudden budget cuts, forced consolidation of tank operations, and the resulting loss of direction. The case of the Puma tank, which shows how long-lasting the negative impact of bureaucratic mismanagement started over 20 years ago can be on national interests, is a case that should be carefully considered in our political circles as well.