Germany’s latest infantry fighting vehicles have suffered a series of crippling malfunctions which rendered them unable to operate just as their formation was set to assume one of the main roles in NATO’s quick reaction forces starting in 2023. “With the Puma company, a different picture emerged,” wrote von Butler in his letter to the Social-Democratic Party (SPD) minister. The German Puma is an infantry fighting vehicle intended to replace Bundeswehr’s venerable fleet of West German-era Marder vehicles, which were first deployed more than half a century ago.