BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The Defense Ministry has drawn extensive conclusions from the failure of 18 deployed Puma infantry fighting vehicles during a firing exercise. It was not the severity of the malfunctions but the number that overloaded the logistical system available on site, according to a ministry report to the defense committee, obtained by Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Berlin on Monday. It also cites several broken electrical cables and numerous spills that led to the outage.

"The exercise event has shown that even technically supposedly minor and easily repairable damage can negatively affect the operational usability of the system," the classified report said. The term "minor damage" - which the industry had used - is therefore "not shared by the ministry in a generalized form, especially when remedial action cannot be taken immediately by the crew, particularly in a combat situation."

However, the ministry stresses that the infantry fighting vehicle is a "highly complex, state-of-the-art weapon system." It represents "a quantum leap in tactical superiority in terms of firepower, mobility and networking." All parties involved agree that the Puma "is the future for the Army."/cn/DP/jha