Rheinmetall Tests Skyspotter to Counter Drone Swarms

The German company Rheinmetall, in cooperation with the Finnish Army, carried out trials of the Skyspotter counter-drone system, focusing on the kinetic destruction of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

According to Rheinmetall, the tests were conducted in December 2025 at the Lohtaja training area in Finland during winter exercises in forested terrain.

A key component of the Rheinmetall system is a 30 mm revolver cannon specifically designed to engage and destroy small aerial targets.

For engagement, the programmable KETF ammunition is used, which creates a cloud of tungsten sub-projectiles in front of the target.

This operating principle increases the probability of destroying drones and reduces reliance on expensive surface-to-air missiles.

In the Skyranger 30 configuration integrated into Skyspotter, the effective firing range reaches up to 3 km, and the rate of fire is approximately 1,200 rounds per minute.

The ammunition load exceeds 250 rounds, allowing the system to effectively counter massed drone attacks.

The mobile version of Rheinmetall’s Skyspotter is mounted on an HX military truck, enabling rapid deployment in combat conditions.

As previously reported, Rheinmetall’s unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) were recently mentioned as being tested by the U.S. Marines in Japan.