The Puma family of vehicles were developed for the Italian Army to complement the fleet of Centauro Tank Destroyer vehicles also developed by Consorzio Iveco Fiat - Otobreda. Iveco Fiat were awarded a contract by the Italian Army for the development of Puma platforms carrying missiles, a mortar carrier, an ambulance and a command post vehicle. The development of the Puma was extended to provide a complete family of light wheeled armoured fighting vehicles, suitable for combat and combat support roles.

The hulls for the different versions of the Puma vehicles are customised to meet the specific mission requirements, while the mechanical systems, with minor differences in the transfer casing, are common to the family of vehicles.

At the end of 1999, the Italian Army ordered 580 Puma vehicles, 250 of the 6 x 6 configuration, and 330 4 x 4 vehicles. Deliveries are planned from 2001 to 2004.

The combat vehicles can be armed with the Raytheon TOW anti-tank missile, the missile launcher being mounted on the roof of the vehicle. The TOW missile is a wire-guided, optically tracked missile with a maximum range of 3.75 km. Euromissile Milan anti-tank guided missile and the Matra BAe Dynamics Mistral surface-to-air missile can also be fitted to the vehicle.

The Puma combat vehicle can also be equipped with a 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun.

The all welded steel armour hull with the engine at the front provides protection against small arms ammunition and shell fragments. The hull sides are shaped from single pieces of steel armour instead of welded sections. The crew are protected against nuclear, chemical and biological warfare by an NBC protection system integrated into the air conditioning system. The engine compartment is fitted with a fire detection and extinguishing system.

An electrically operated three barrel smoke grenade launcher is fitted on either side of the hull on both the 4x4 and 6x6 variants to provide protection against visual and infrared targeting systems.

The driver's station is on the left hand side of the vehicle. The driver has three periscopic sights. The centre periscope is a passive night vision periscope.

The commander's cupola in the centre of the vehicle is equipped with five periscopic sights which give 360 degree vision. A 7.62 mm or 12.7 mm machine gun can be installed on the cupola.

The engine compartment is at the front of the vehicle. The four cylinder turbo-charged aftercooled diesel engine is one of a family of engines manufactured by Iveco and provides an output power of 132 kW with 500 Nm torque.

The automatic transmission, manufactured under licence from Renk of Ausburg in Germany, has 5 forward gears and one reverse gear. The suspension is independent with identical components on each wheel. The hydropneumatic struts are supplied by Messier based in Velizy, France. The power assisted steering is on the front axle of the 4x4 vehicle and on the first and second axle of the 6x6 vehicle. Each wheel is fitted with disc brakes.

The vehicle has a maximum road speed over 100 km/hour. The maximum gradient is 60%, side slope 30% and the vehicle has a fording depth of 1 m. The turning radius is 6 m on the 4x4 vehicle and 7.5 m on the 6x6 vehicle. The vehicle is air and sea transportable.