BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - During the repair of the 18 Puma infantry fighting vehicles that failed during a firing exercise, mainly minor and medium damage was found, according to the Defense Ministry. In isolated cases, they were more serious, the ministry told the Obleuten in the Bundestag on Wednesday in a classified briefing, which was available to the Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Berlin. The ministry "continues to assess the SPz Puma as a technologically advanced weapon system," it added.

The infantry fighting vehicle "undoubtedly has very promising performance data and the ability to provide the troops with effective superiority in combat." "For a war-fighting system, this effectiveness superiority must go hand in hand with robustness and reliability in deployment and operation," it says. Experience to date has shown that this highly complex weapon system in its current state of design can only be operated with a closely interlinked technical-logistical concept involving the troops, Army maintenance logistics, project management and industry./cn/DP/jha