Rheinmetall to Supply Skynex Air Defense Systems to Unnamed Customer

Rheinmetall will supply four Skynex systems to an unnamed customer for several hundred million euros.

The company announced this.

The total project duration is three years and three months. Delivery of the first Skynex battery is scheduled for 1 year and 9 months after the contract is signed, and subsequent systems will be delivered sequentially, one every 6 months.

The company emphasizes that this is the first order from an unnamed international client.

The agreement covers not only the air defense systems themselves but also trucks, ammunition, and a comprehensive Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package.

The support package includes training, spare parts, specialized tools, and consumables to help ensure long-term operational readiness.

Rheinmetall Italia is the prime contractor for this project. Several key subsidiaries of the Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles Group—Rheinmetall Weapon and Munitions (Germany) and Rheinmetall Air Defense (Switzerland)—are actively involved in delivering the systems.

Rheinmetall also plans to modernize the air defense system in cooperation with the South Korean company LIG Defense and to develop a new C-PGM/ESHORAD anti-aircraft missile, which will be integrated into the Skynex system in the future.

Skynex Air Defense System

A Skynex battery consists of four 35-mm gun mounts, a command post, and a radar station that performs primary detection of air targets and guides the guns.

The backbone of the system is the 35-mm Oerlikon Mk3 automatic cannon, which has an effective firing range of 4,000 meters and a rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute. It fires AHEAD-type programmable-fuse projectiles.

The gun mounts also feature their own radar station, which is integrated with an optoelectronic station. They ensure target acquisition and precise guidance even for small targets.

The Skynex air defense system, presented in 2021, has already been purchased by Italy, Ukraine, and Romania.