The Bundeswehr has Rheinmetall to manufacture and supply medium-caliber ammunition for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. It called off several hundred thousand 30 millimeter x 173 DM21 cartridges from a framework agreement. The gross order value for this combat ammunition is more than 350 million euros. Provided that they are proven to function perfectly, delivery will begin this year and run until 2027.
On 30 November 2022, the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approved the proposal for the extensive procurement of 30-millimetre medium-calibre ammunition. The framework contract for the supply of medium-caliber ammunition for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle was already awarded in December 2022 and includes ammunition worth up to 576 million euros. Follow-up orders are therefore to be expected. The procurement of DM21 automatic cannon ammunition from the existing framework agreement also began in 2022. A call-off for the year 2023 was also made in mid-2023. https://militaeraktuell.at/es-wird-in-zukunft-stuermisch-werden/ The Puma infantry fighting vehicle is equipped with Rheinmetall’s MK30-2/ABM (airburst ammunition) automatic cannon. It combines a high rate of fire with state-of-the-art ammunition technology. This makes the MK30-2/ABM an uncompromising, extremely reliable weapon system, according to a recent Rheinmetall press release. The MK30-2/ABM is extremely effective against land, air and sea targets. Rheinmetall is a major supplier of ammunition to the Bundeswehr for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. Rheinmetall produces and supplies the two main combat ammunitions KETF DM21 (airburst ammunition) and KE DM33 (arrow ammunition) in 30 mm x 173 caliber, as well as the DM58 training ammunition. The extremely reliable programming of the KETF DM21 airburst ammunition – the abbreviation stands for Kinetic Energy Time Fuse – enables the Puma infantry fighting vehicle to engage larger soft and semi-hard area targets. The KE DM33 arrow ammunition belongs to the new generation of armour-piercing sub-calibre ammunition (APFSDS-T, Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot – Tracer). The penetrator of the ammunition penetrates modern armor even at extremely small impact angles and long combat distances. With the two types of combat ammunition, the Puma infantry fighting vehicle is capable of engaging a range of armored, semi-hard and soft point and area targets.
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