“23 billion won per unit”… A lot of flaws, humiliation of the most expensive armored vehicle in the world

The German Defense Minister has decided to suspend further purchases of the German armored vehicle Puma, known as the most expensive armored vehicle in the world with a price tag of over 20 billion won per unit, after a bunch of flaws were discovered.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said during a visit to Slovakia on the 20th (local time): “The defense industry has the responsibility to repair the Puma armored vehicle again without delay.”

He pointed to Rheinmetall and Krauss-Maffei Wegman (KMW), defense companies that have been involved in the production of Puma armored vehicles.

Minister Lambrecht warned that “if the prospect of normalization of the Puma armored vehicle is not seen, we could decide that the system is no longer in use”.

At the same time, it has requested an analysis of the cause of the defect from related ministries, the federal army and industry by the end of next week.

This is a measure in response to the discovery of defects in Puma armored vehicles during the recent training of the German Federal Army.

Last week, a Bundeswehr infantry company found a defect in all 18 Puma armored vehicles mobilized during training at a combat training ground in Bergen, Lower Saxony. Defects have occurred in electrical parts, causing a short circuit, and defects have also been found in consumables.

Currently, the German Army is known to have 350 Puma armored vehicles. Currently, the unit price is 17 million euros (about 23.3 billion won), which is known as the world’s most expensive armored vehicle.