Skyranger Air Defense System to Receive Rheinmetall’s Automatic Reloading System

Rheinmetall is developing a dedicated vehicle for the automatic reloading of Skyranger SAM systems.

Militär Aktuell reported this.

The new vehicle is intended to reduce ammunition replenishment time and let crews stay inside the protected vehicles during reloading.

Rheinmetall is developing the project in cooperation with Austrian partners and the country’s Armed Forces.

Austrian companies Empl and Palfinger, which specialize in specialized transport vehicles and lifting equipment, are involved in the development. The project is currently in the development stage, and Rheinmetall has not yet received an order for series production of the system.

According to the developers, the dedicated vehicle will load a prepared ammunition magazine into the combat vehicle using a robotic manipulator.

It will remove the empty magazine, replace it with a full one, and return for the next one.

Each magazine contains 252 rounds and weighs approximately 400 kg. Rheinmetall expects the entire reloading process to take only a few minutes.

Austria has ordered 36 Skyranger 30 systems mounted on Pandur EVO armored personnel carrier chassis. The new reloading system is intended to extend the systems’ operating time without requiring crews to carry out dangerous operations outside the vehicle.

In addition to the dedicated reloading vehicle, Rheinmetall is considering using a trailer carrying additional magazines. It could carry up to 12 magazines, while the reloading vehicle itself would carry six. This would give the system up to 18 additional magazines, or around 4,500 rounds.

It is currently being developed primarily for the Skyranger 30 system, but the solution is planned for adaptation to the Skyranger 35 in the future.

Skyranger 30

The module is equipped with a Swiss 30 mm Oerlikon KCE cannon with a fire rate of 1,200 rounds per minute. Optionally, it can be fitted with a launcher for two FIM-92 Stinger or Mistral missiles.

The cannon’s ammunition suite includes a wide range of rounds, including proximity-fuzed shells. The ammunition load consists of 252 30 mm rounds.

For detecting small aerial targets, the Skyranger 30 also uses the AMMR multi-mission radar, which operates in the S-band. A total of five antennas are installed on the vehicle, providing 360-degree coverage.

The countries that have placed orders include Denmark, Hungary, and the Netherlands. All three countries will mount the Skyranger module on their own platforms.