05 March 2021

Rheinmetall unveils Skyranger 30 air-defence system

by Nicholas Fiorenza

Rheinmetall unveiled its new Skyranger 30 mobile air-defence system during an online press briefing on 3 March. The system is housed in a 2–2.5-tonne turret, enabling it to be carried by lighter vehicles than the 4–4.5-tonne turret Skyranger 35 the company first presented in 2004.

Rheinmetall unveiled its Skyranger 30 air-defence system on 3 March. (Rheinmetall)

Moritz Vischer, Rheinmetall's product manager effectors, air-defence systems, said the lighter Skyranger 30 could be carried by both tracked and wheeled vehicles. Like the Skyranger 35, the Skyranger 30 can be carried by an 8×8 armoured personnel carrier or infantry fighting vehicle with a three-strong crew but the latter can also be carried by a 6×6 vehicle. Both systems can be used for force protection and vital asset protection, with the Skyranger 30 focused on the unmanned aerial system threat and the Skyranger 35 being able to counter a wider air threat set that includes rockets, artillery, and mortars.

While the Skyranger 35 is armed with only a 35 mm gun, the Skyranger 30’s smaller 30 mm gun allows the integration of two missiles into the turret. Rheinmetall officials said they were “missile-agnostic”, with the possibility of semi-automatic command to line-of-sight or passive fire-and-forget missiles being integrated into Skyranger 30 by their manufacturer. Vischer said air-defence missiles with a range of 8–9 km would complement the 30 mm gun’s 2–3 km range. The gun’s 85° elevation allowed it to combat terminal diving targets, he added.

Rheinmetall unveiled its new Skyranger 30 mobile air-defence system during an online press briefing ...

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