Puma

The Puma is a series of Italian light wheeled armored personnel carriers, produced in 4x4 and 6x6 configurations. Designed for reconnaissance and troop transport, it offers protection against small arms fire and mines.

Developed in the late 1980s by the Iveco-Oto Melara consortium, the Puma was created to provide the Italian Army's cavalry and light infantry units with a highly mobile companion vehicle to the Centauro tank destroyer. The vehicle officially entered service in 2001, with the Italian Army procuring over 500 units across both wheel configurations. It subsequently saw extensive operational deployment during multinational peacekeeping and stabilization missions in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Lebanon. Although its vulnerability to improvised explosive devices eventually led to a reduced frontline role in favor of heavier mine-resistant vehicles, the Puma remains in secondary service and has recently been supplied to foreign partners, including Ukraine.