In Ukraine the aging Gepard air defence system has shown just how important having a military air defence capability has become again today. The state-of-the-art Skyranger from Rheinmetall has now emerged as a worthy successor to the Gepard, which the German Bundeswehr retired back in 2010. The Bundeswehr now intends to rebuild the air defence capability of its ground forces.

Several countries have expressed serious interest in the Skyranger 30. A hybrid solution, its turret features a high-performance 30mm automatic cannon, a guided missile launcher and the accompanying sensor systems, all mounted on a single platform. Moreover, it is compatible with various advanced guided missiles, e.g., the Mistral, Stinger and Chiron.

Germany is also edging steadily closer to selecting the Skyranger as the Bundeswehr’s future short-range air defence system. Intensive negotiations relating to the proposal are expected to take place this autumn. The idea is to procure close to twenty systems for the German Army, which will be mounted on the already fielded 8×8 Boxer multipurpose wheeled armoured vehicle. For the German government, the Skyranger 20 simultaneously serves as the point of departure for Germany’s proposal for the European Sky Shield Initiative, or ESSI, which seeks uniform solutions and remains open for numerous other partner nations.

Fellow NATO member nation Hungary has already declared its intention to order the Skyranger 30, to be mounted in this case on Rheinmetall’s Lynx infantry fighting vehicle. In view of the current threat situation, several non-NATO states have also expressed an interest in the system.

The Skyranger thus promises to be another Rheinmetall success story: a modular air defence solution that can be mounted on a vast variety of wheeled or tracked platforms in accordance with customer requirements.