Promised Skyranger systems remain undelivered in 2026

In June 2024, Rheinmetall announced its intention to provide 10 units of this system to Ukraine. The chassis for these systems will likely come from the stocks of Leopard 1A5BE tanks belonging to the Belgian company OIP Land Systems, from which the group purchased 50 vehicles, 17 of which reportedly lacked turrets. Their delivery was initially slated for 2026.

An accelerated delivery that never happened

In September 2025, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger announced that the first vehicles would reach Ukraine by the end of this calendar cycle. A corresponding agreement was supposed to be concluded at the DSEI 2025 trade fair, which was ultimately not officially announced. This took place on 10 October, when the concern reported the conclusion of a contract worth several hundred million euros for the delivery of „additional” Skyranger 35 systems.

It is not officially known whether Ukraine had previously acquired this type of system, so this announcement raises a number of questions. The purchase was financed by an EU member state using funds from frozen Russian assets. The Italian subsidiary of the concern, Rheinmetall Italia SpA, is to be responsible for the production and integration of the system with the chassis at its Rome headquarters.

At the end of June, the author of the German Aid To Ukraine blog reported, citing a Rheinmetall press release, that the delivery of Skyranger 35 systems to Ukraine has still not taken place. Thus, it was not possible to fulfil Papperger’s announcement from last autumn, even though the delivery of the aforementioned vehicles had previously been declared for the current year.

Such systems are crucial in repelling further attacks by Russian aerial assault assets, with an emphasis on OWA-class (One-Way Attack) unmanned aerial vehicles. Nevertheless, under favourable circumstances, they can also eliminate significantly more dangerous effectors, such as cruise missiles, as exemplified by shoot-downs performed by the older Gepard anti-aircraft artillery systems.

What is the Skyranger 35?

The Skyranger 35 is a very short-range air defence (VSHORAD) gun and missile system that can be integrated onto various land platforms. The primary armament is the 35 mm Oerlikon KCA revolver cannon, chambered for 35x228 mm ammunition, which allows for the effective elimination of aerial and ground targets at a range of 4,000–5,000 metres. Its peak rate of fire is specified at 1,000 rounds per minute, although it is nominally 200. It can fire programmable ammunition. For engaging targets at a longer range, very short-range anti-aircraft guided missiles such as Mistral, Stinger, or Chiron are used, housed in a four-cell launcher.

Target detection is handled by an S-band AESA radar developed by Rheinmetall Italia. It allows for the detection of targets such as aircraft at a range of up to 20 km; for helicopters, this range decreases to 12 km, while for missiles, it is expected to be 10 km. Regarding C-RAM and UAV target acquisition, the range is set at 5,000 metres. There is a possibility to integrate the Skyranger 35 with additional detection systems. For self-defence, the vehicle is equipped with a 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun. In the future, the system is also expected to have the capability to eliminate targets using a laser beam. The weight of the system is approximately 4.5 tonnes.