Cat food: medium caliber ammunition for the Puma armored fighting vehicle

The German Bundeswehr has awarded Rheinmetall with the production and delivery of medium-caliber ammunition for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. From a framework contract, it called off several hundred thousand rounds of the type 30mm x 173 DM21. The contract value for this combat ammunition amounts to over 350 million EUR gross. If the proper function is proven, the delivery will begin later this year and will run until 2027.

The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag approved a proposal for a comprehensive procurement of 30mm medium-caliber ammunition on November 30, 2022. The framework contract for the supply of medium-caliber ammunition for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle was already awarded in December 2022 and covers ammunition worth up to 576 million EUR. Therefore, follow-up orders can be expected. In 2022, the procurement of the DM21 machine cannon ammunition also ended from the existing framework contract. A call-off for the year 2023 was made in mid-2023 as well.
The Puma infantry fighting vehicle is equipped with Rheinmetall's MK30-2/ABM (Airburst Munition) machine cannon. It combines high rate of fire and modern ammunition technology at the latest level. This makes the MK30-2/ABM an uncompromisingly reliable weapon system. The MK30-2/ABM is highly effective against land, air, and sea targets.

Rheinmetall is a key ammunition supplier for the Bundeswehr for the Puma infantry fighting vehicle. In the caliber 30mm x 173, Rheinmetall produces and supplies the two main combat ammunitions KETF DM21 (Airburst Munition) and KE DM33 (Arrow Ammunition) as well as the training ammunition DM58. All ammunitions are developed to the latest standards, qualified, and are unparalleled worldwide in terms of reliability, effectiveness, penetration capability, and precision.

The highly reliable programming of the Airburst Munition KETF DM21 - the abbreviation stands for Kinetic Energy Time Fuse - enables the Puma infantry fighting vehicle to engage larger soft and semi-hard surface targets. The Arrow Ammunition KE DM33 belongs to the new generation of armor-piercing sub-caliber ammunition (APFSDS-T, Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot - Tracer). The penetrator of the ammunition can penetrate modern armor even at very small impact angles and long engagement distances. With these two types of combat ammunitions, the Puma armored vehicle is able to engage a spectrum of targets from armored to semi-hard and soft point and surface targets.

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