Rheinmetall found a customer for two Skynex air defense systems

The German company Rheinmetall will supply two Skynex air defense systems to an unnamed international customer.

The order was announced on the website of the company today, December 9, 2022.

The systems will enhance the customer’s ability to defend itself against aerial threats.

The purchase price is about €182 million. Skynex air defense systems should be delivered to the customer in early 2024.

In addition, a memorandum of understanding was signed for the procurement of HX trucks in the amount of approximately €12 million. These vehicles will be delivered with the Skynex systems.

The Skynex air defense system was unveiled by Rheinmetall in November 2021. Its main armament is a 35-mm Oerlikon Mk3 revolver gun.

The system is also said to have demonstrated its ability to engage a small swarm of small aerial drones. The use of programmable 35mm Ahead ammunition, as developed by Rheinmetall for this purpose, is significantly less expensive than comparable guided missile-based systems. When fired, this 35mm ammunition cannot be influenced, let alone jammed by electronic countermeasures.

Other equipment and weapon systems can be attached to the Skynex, including the Oerlikon X-TAR3D tactical acquisition radar, the Oerlikon GDF009 TREO 35mm twin cannon, the Oerlikon laser gun and the new Denel Cheetah C-RAM missile (Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar).

The 35-mm Oerlikon Mk3 gun used in the Skynex air defense system has an effective range of 4,000 meters and a rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute. The gun module is equipped with an X-Band tracking radar that provides an autonomous target search function, making targeting simple and fast.

Tracking and destruction of an aerial object is performed automatically due to the built-in fire control processor. The system can be controlled remotely from another location.

Skynex includes Oerlikon’s Skymaster command and control system, a versatile command and control solution that significantly expands ground-based air defense capabilities.

It displays a general comprehensive aerial picture based on all available sources of information. Skymaster provides effective real-time threat assessment and coordinates disparate weapons and fire control systems in a flexible system architecture.