The Puma tank is increasingly becoming a breakdown tank: Now it turns out that another example will fail for a long time because the wrong fire extinguisher was used in a cable fire.
More trouble with the Puma tanks of the Bundeswehr. In April last year, the new defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, stated that although the Bundeswehr had 350 Puma Pamzers “on paper”, only 150 were actually operational. Then, shortly before Christmas, the next scandal: after a target practice session with the 18 Puma tanks, all 18 were in need of repairs. Lambrecht then took the manufacturers to heart and demanded speedy clarification and repairs.
Now the “Bild” is reporting another failure: When a cable fire broke out on one of the Pumas during an exercise, it was stopped with a powder fire extinguisher – with unbelievable consequences. Because the powder got into every crack of the armor, it now has to be dismantled into all its individual parts, cleaned and reassembled. A job that could take months.
The background is that halon fire extinguishers have been banned in the European Union since 1994 for environmental reasons. Exceptions are possible in military and flight operations, but not in exercises. Powder fire extinguishers, on the other hand, are more environmentally friendly.
CDU defense expert Henning Otto now called for more pragmatism in the “Bild”: “When it comes to operational readiness, exceptions must be possible.”
Street dog Sammy was supposed to be handed over to his new owner at Munich Airport. But the six-month-old four-legged friend escaped. The search for him, which lasted more than a week, is now coming to a happy end.
In his autobiography “Spare” Prince Harry once again unpacks about his family. So far, as usual, she has been very silent. But public reluctance is deceptive. Position is taken in the background.
