Marder (IFV) - Combat Service

Combat Service

With the first unit delivered in Summer 1971, the Marder IFV remained untested in combat for 38 years until July 2009 when they defended a German combat outpost against the Taliban in Chahar Dara district of Afghanistan's Kunduz Province, killing and wounding scores. Since then, the Marders have been involved in heavy fighting several times. The vehicles proved to be extremely useful and were praised as a great tactical asset by German troops: "Thank God (...) the Marders came and held down the enemy", a German Panzergrenadier said when his whipsawed unit was relieved by forces employing Marder IFVs. However, the crews were subject to great physical stress as none of the vehicles had been equipped with air conditioning systems.

In June 2011, A German Marder was destroyed near Kunduz by a 200 kg IED, killing one soldier and injuring five others.