New ammunition for the infantry fighting vehicle Puma

The Bundeswehr receives further ammunition of the NATO standard caliber 30mm x 173. The Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support has today signed a framework contract with the manufacturer Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH. In total, over the coming years, more than 600,000 rounds can be procured. The first approximately 25,000 rounds will be called off this year and will be available to the troops from January 2023.

The new ammunition is used to replenish the operational stocks, as well as for training and exercises by the troops. The focus will be on equipping the forces of the fast NATO Response Force VJTF (Very High Readiness Joint Task Force) 2023.

When commissioned with the maximum amount of ammunition, the contract has a volume of around 576 million euros and is funded from the budget of individual plan 14.

Unlike past contracts, the agreement concluded today has a term of seven years, allowing for flexible annual retrieval of ammunition based on the identified needs of the troops.

The 30mm x 173 Fragmentation Ammunition with time fuse can effectively engage targets up to a distance of more than 2,000 m. It is fired from the Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle with the 30mm machine cannon type MK 30-2/ABM. With this weapon, targets can be engaged in single fire as well as in full automatic fire with high precision.

RHEINMETALL is a significant supplier of combat ammunition to the Bundeswehr. 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 to the latest standards. This makes the MK30-2/ABM an uncompromising, highly reliable weapon system. With an effective range of over 2,000 m, the MK30-2/ABM is extremely effective against land, air, and sea targets. In the caliber 30mm x 173, Rheinmetall produces and delivers the two main combat ammunitions KE-TF DM21 and KE DM33 for the Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Both ammunitions are developed and qualified to the latest standards and are unparalleled worldwide in terms of reliability, effectiveness, penetration performance, and precision. The highly reliable programming of the KE-TF - the abbreviation stands for Kinetic Energy Time Fuse - allows the Puma Infantry Fighting Vehicle to engage larger soft and semi-hard surface targets.

BUNDESWEHR online