Diesel Drive System for Puma Armored Personnel Carrier

, FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, Germany: The Tognum company MTU Friedrichshafen is about to receive the biggest single defense order in its history. The Budget Committee of the German Bundestag gave the green light for the procurement of 405 Puma armored personnel carriers in November. 
 
In the past two years, MTU drive systems have been successfully tested in prototypes of the new vehicle for the German Armed Forces. By August 2008, the entire vehicle is to undergo final tests, so that the full order for the delivery of 405 drive systems using engines of the type 10V 890 can be placed by the end of 2008. 
 
The order volume will probably amount to EUR 350 million and delivery will start in 2010. 
 
The armored personnel carrier will be built by PSM Projekt System & Management GmbH, a joint venture between the German defense technology companies Rheinmetall-Landsysteme and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. 
 
MTU offers advanced system know-how for special engines 
 
MTU Friedrichshafen bears the overall responsibility for the development of the drive system based on the new special engines of the Series 890, and provides the most advanced technology in the world for drive systems for military vehicles. For the Puma, MTU developed the basic engine 10V 890 with a power output of 800 kilowatts (1,088 horsepower), which features high performance combined with minimal space requirements and very low weight. 
 
Additional highlights of system specialist MTU’s supply program are the starter generator developed jointly with the company ESW, and the newly developed transmission from the company Renk. 
 
With the development of the Series 890, MTU is presenting a new generation of extremely powerful and highly compact diesel engines, specially designed for diesel-electrical and diesel-mechanical vehicle propulsion. With these innovative products, MTU Friedrichshafen once again confirms its worldwide pioneering position in the field of engine technology.