Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners practice shooting with Skynex system

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have demonstrated the German Skynex air defense system in action.

The press service of the Ukrainian Air Force’s Air Command West released the video of the air defense units’ soldiers practicing firing from the Skynex anti-aircraft artillery system.

Ukraine received these systems as part of military aid from Germany.

The video shows the process of preparing the Skynex anti-aircraft artillery system for firing.

In particular, it captures the Air Force personnel equipping a 35mm gun with ammunition, working at the control panel, and using the optical system of the system to record the defeat of an air target.

Skynex’s main task is object-based air defense. These guns are primarily used to protect important fixed military installations and critical infrastructure in particular.

The German-made guns for detecting and targeting air threats have their own radar combined with an optical sensor, which, in turn, ensures high accuracy in hitting small targets.

Defending the sky

It was officially announced in August that German Skynex anti-aircraft artillery systems had already started defending the Ukrainian sky. At that time, footage of the system was shown in an official video dedicated to the Day of the Air Force of Ukraine.

Back in 2022, Rheinmetall announced that it would produce two Skynex batteries for an unnamed European country and requested funding from the German Federal Government for these systems.

Later, anonymous sources in the German government shared with Handelsblatt that Ukraine would receive these two new air defense systems batteries worth EUR 182 million.

The systems were directly transferred as part of a military aid package from the German government that Ukraine received in early 2024.

The Skynex air defense system was developed by the German Rheinmetall Air Defense. The system’s battery consists of four 35mm guns, a control post, and a radar station that provides priority detection of air targets for gun guidance.