foto: Rheinmetall / Public domain/At the centre of the portfolio stands Oerlikon Skynex® Air Defence Systems
Rheinmetall Division Air Defence offers a coherent and highly modular portfolio for very short-range air defence, counter-UAS and force protection, combining advanced sensors, scalable effectors and resilient command-and-control into mission-tailored solutions.
At the centre of this portfolio stands Oerlikon Skynex® Air Defence Systems, Rheinmetall’s networked solution for the protection of vital assets and critical infrastructure. With its open architecture, Skynex links sensors and effectors in a modular way to create a layered shield against drones, loitering munitions, cruise missiles and saturation attacks. Its ability to integrate assets such as the Oerlikon Revolver Gun® Mk3, Oerlikon Twin Gun® GDF009 TREO, third-party missile launchers, electronic-warfare components and future directed-energy effectors makes it especially relevant for fixed-site defence where adaptability, expandability and sustained readiness are essential.
For security tasks below the threshold of war, Oerlikon Skyspotter® C-UAS System offers a particularly flexible response to the rapidly evolving drone threat. It allows operators to begin with a light and proportionate counter-drone configuration and to scale the system progressively in line with the threat environment, while also enabling a transition to full warfighting capability through the integration of hard-kill effectors such as the Oerlikon Revolver Gun® 30.
.jpg "Rheinmetall / Public domain")
Skyranger 30 and Skyranger 35 systems
For manoeuvre forces and battlefield operations, the Skyranger family meets the growing demand for highly mobile force protection. Skyranger 30 and Skyranger 35 provide armed forces with all-in-one air-defence systems capable of accompanying mechanized formations, protecting convoys and defending deployed forces against helicopters, combat aircraft, loitering munitions and swarming drones.
Their combination of high firepower, integrated sensors, airburst ammunition and optional missile armament gives commanders an effective response to an increasingly dense and dynamic low-altitude threat environment. The latest Skyranger 35 truck-mounted variant further expands the portfolio as a highly flexible stand-alone air-defence solution for vital asset protection, combining strong autonomous engagement capability with the ability to change firing positions quickly as threats evolve.
Oerlikon Skymaster ensures effective system interoperability
Oerlikon Skymaster® Command and Control ties these systems together as the operational nexus of Rheinmetall’s air-defence solutions. Skymaster delivers modular, mission-tailored VSHORAD performance by fusing sensor data, generating a recognized air picture and assigning targets efficiently across distributed effectors, while enabling interoperability with domestic and allied command-and-control networks.
AHEAD and KETF airburst ammunition
A key enabler of Rheinmetall’s gun-based air-defence and counter-drone systems is its programmable medium-calibre ammunition technology. The 35 mm Oerlikon AHEAD® ammunition and the 30 mm KETF airburst ammunition are designed to release tungsten sub-projectiles just ahead of the target, creating a dense and precisely placed lethal cone that significantly increases hit probability against small, fast and agile aerial threats.
This effect is particularly important in the engagement of NATO UAS Class I and II targets, where conventional direct-hit approaches can be less efficient. By combining high engagement effectiveness with comparatively lower cost per shot, these ammunition families help armed forces break the cost-asymmetry of countering drones and loitering threats, while strengthening the operational value of Rheinmetall’s cannon-based Skynex, Skyspotter and Skyranger solutions.
Source: Rheinmetall
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