Bundeswehr orders more 30 mm IFV ammunition

A Bundeswehr Puma IFV. (Rheinmetall)

The Bundeswehr placed an order with Rheinmetall on 5 January for additional 30 mm ammunition for its Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs).

The order, worth several hundred million euros, extended a December 2022 framework contract for the supply of 30×173 mm ammunition. The framework contract, which runs until 2029, has so far seen a “medium six-figure quantity” of ammunition delivered. It will now see several hundred thousand more cartridges, worth around EUR1 billion (USD1.2 billion), delivered.

200 Pumas

On 19 December 2025, the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr: BAAINBw) extended a May 2023 framework contract to commission Projekt System & Management GmbH (PSM), a joint venture (JV) between Rheinmetall and KNDS Deutschland (KNDS), to supply 200 more Puma vehicles to expand the Bundeswehr's fleet. The initial order for the May 2023 contract was for 50 vehicles.

The Puma procurement, valued at EUR4.2 billion gross, of which EUR2.1 billion will go to KNDS and EUR2.1 billion will go to Rheinmetall subsidiary Rheinmetall Landsysteme GmbH, is scheduled to see first deliveries in the second quarter of 2028.

The Puma is equipped with Rheinmetall's MK30-2/ABM (Airburst Munition) cannon, firing programmable ammunition over 2,000 m against land, air, and sea targets, Rheinmetall said in a 5 January press release.

Rheinmetall produces and supplies two types of ammunition for the Puma IFV: the KE-TF (Kinetic Energy Time Fuse) DM21, and KE DM33, both in 30×173 mm calibre. The programmable KE-TF rounds are designed to allow the Puma IFV to engage larger soft and semi-hard surface targets, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

For more information, please see Special Report: Bundeswehr's new structure takes effect .