Arms giant Rheinmetall has signed a 350-million euro ($381 million) deal with the Armed Forces of Germany to produce medium-caliber ammunition for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle (IFV).
The company will provide hundreds of thousands of 30mm x 173 DM21 service ammunition for the tanks, with deliveries expected to run this year until 2027.
These will be utilized in tandem with the Puma vehicles’ MK30-2/ABM cannon, also produced by Rheinmetall, designed to fire airburst ammunition.
The move comes after the large-scale procurement contract was awarded back in 2022.
Equipping the Puma
Rheinmetall produces and supplies two main types of 30mm ammunition for the Puma, focusing on lethality and penetrating power.
The KETF DM21 airburst ammo provides reliable programming to tackle larger soft and semi-hard targets, while the KE DM33 armor-piercing variant penetrates modern armor even in longer ranges.
“Thanks to these two types of service ammunition, the Puma can successfully take on a wide spectrum of armoured, semi-hard, soft point and area targets,” the company said.
A Modern IFV
Designed to replace Germany’s aging Marder IFVs, the Puma is a heavily protected tank capable of moving as fast as 70 kilometers (43 miles) per hour.
It also utilizes two optronic imaging displays, four rear-mounted cameras and a reversing camera, a 360-degree periscope, and an open-hatch view for optimal situational awareness.
Berlin greenlit the 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) order for the 50 Puma IFVs last year as a way to continue the transfer of the older Marder tanks to Ukraine.
However, it announced last month that it would pause the purchase of the new tanks after encountering a mass breakdown during an exercise involving 18 units.
