BERLIN, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The German Defense Ministry was expecting the total cost for the new infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) "Puma" to increase to around 6.0 billion euros(6.74 billion U.S. dollars), data revealed by the German government on Friday showed.
According to a response by the German Ministry of Defense to an inquiry by Matthias Hoehn, politician of Left party, sent to Xinhua, the cost for Germany's new IFV that were initially allocated in 2002 have almost doubled.
The higher costs had been "contractually stipulated" and resulted from "necessary measures" over the past 17 years in order to reach "full operational readiness", the ministry stated.
"The costs for the already most expensive infantry fighting vehicle in the world have now doubled," said Hoehn and criticized that this "absurd development can neither be justified by security policy nor budgetary considerations".
The Puma infantry fighting vehicle is replacing the old IFV "Marder" of the German army (Bundeswehr).
With 43 tons and around 1,088 horsepower, the new German Puma is producing nearly double of the power of its predecessor and most other IFVs in use internationally.
Puma was "one of the most modern and powerful tank infantry fighting vehicles in the world", according to the Bundeswehr. The first deployment of the tank is scheduled for 2023 and will be part of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force of NATO.
