On Friday, 12 December 2025, at Soesterberg Air Base in Utrecht, the Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT, Commando Materieel en IT) of the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed a contract worth several hundred million euros (in the upper range, close to one billion, though the exact amount was not disclosed – editor’s note) with the German group Rheinmetall AG for the delivery of 22 Oerlikon Skyranger 30 air defense systems. The planned procurement was announced on 29 January this year.
Photos: Rheinmetall AG, Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
The contract will be executed by Rheinmetall Air Defence’s Swiss subsidiary, which will first deliver three prototypes, with serial deliveries scheduled between late 2028 and late 2029. These systems will be produced at Rheinmetall Defence Nederland B.V. facilities in Ede. Notably, the contract also includes tactical-level command-and-control nodes and hook-lift transport platforms for stationary deployment of the system, training simulators, and a comprehensive, integrated logistics support package. The scope of the contract also covers integration with the Netherlands’ existing air defense architecture.
“We are grateful for the Dutch armed forces’ confidence in our capabilities,” said Oliver Dürr, Managing Director of Rheinmetall Air Defence. “This latest order consolidates Rheinmetall’s position as the global market leader in the field of gun-based air defence. It also continues the success of the Skyranger 30. The configuration for the Dutch armed forces, which enables both highly mobile operations and stationary use without a carrier vehicle, is unique to date. Another NATO country has already expressed interest in this configuration.”
According to earlier information, the mobile systems will be mounted on the tracked ACSV G5 (Armoured Combat Support Vehicle), i.e. the PMMC (Protected Mission Module Carrier) G5, developed by the German company Flensburger Fahrzeugbau (FFG) based on modified M113F4 armored personnel carriers. The chassis will therefore be common with those intended for the NASAMS (National/Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) and NOMADS (National Manoeuvre Air Defence System) air defense systems under the CITADEL program – 21 and 18 launchers respectively, ordered on 21 November 2024.
The Skyranger 30 systems will be assigned to the Ground-Based Air Defence Command (DGLC) at Vredepeel Barracks, enabling the creation of approximately 125 positions. They will primarily be used to support counter-drone air defense, engaging aerial targets weighing up to 600 kg at ranges of up to 5,000 m, protecting not only military units but also strategic facilities such as the Port of Rotterdam.
Together with the MIM-104 Patriot air and missile defense systems, an additional fire unit for which was contracted on 16 January 2025, they will form part of a layered air defense architecture.
Skyranger 30
The main armament will be the Oerlikon KCE revolver automatic cannon, fed with 30×173 mm ammunition, featuring a theoretical rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute and an effective range of up to 3,000 m. The gun can fire programmable air-burst munitions (ABM), armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot tracer (APFSDS-T) rounds, and tracer training practice rounds (TP-T). The ammunition load amounts to 250 rounds. The cannon is a development of the proven Oerlikon KCA used on the Swedish Saab JA 37 Viggen fighter-bomber, originally developed by the then Oerlikon Contraves.
The prototype turret is equipped with five AESA antennas of the multifunctional AAMR (AESA Multi-Mission Radar) operating in the S-band, providing 360-degree coverage and an instrumented range of up to 20 km. The radar was developed by Rheinmetall Italia. It is complemented by the passive FIRST (Fast InfraRed Search and Track) infrared detection system and the TREO tracking and identification system, featuring a cooled mid-wave infrared thermal imaging camera with a field of view ranging from 1.3° to 23°, an HD television camera with variable zoom and a field of view from 0.75° to 37°, and two laser rangefinders (against aerial targets at ranges of up to 6 km and against ground targets).
The turret has an unladen weight of approximately 2–2.5 tonnes and measures 5,175 mm in length, 2,568 mm in width, and 1,444 mm in height. It is operated by a crew of three soldiers. It offers STANAG 4569 Level 2 protection, with the option to increase this to Level 4. Optionally, it can be equipped with surface-to-air missile launchers such as the MBDA Mistral 3 or FIM-92 Stinger, systems for countering unmanned aerial vehicles such as Cheetah or SkyKnight, and there is even the possibility of integrating a high-energy laser weapon system with an output power of 20 kW as the Skyranger 30 HEL, with plans to increase output to 50 kW.
So far, the system, first unveiled in 2021, has been selected by Germany (18 systems mounted on GTK Boxer chassis with MBDA DefendAir missiles, with an option for 30 more under the NNbS [Nah- und Nächstbereichsschutzsystem] program; a prototype for testing was delivered in late January this year), Hungary (mounted on the KF41HU Lynx infantry fighting vehicle), Austria (36 systems on the Pandur EVO 6×6 chassis), and Denmark (16 systems on the GDELS-Mowag Piranha V chassis). Lithuania has also expressed interest, potentially mounting the system on its Vilkas wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, which are also based on the GTK Boxer platform.
Major #order from the 🇳🇱 #Netherlands: #Rheinmetall to supply #Skyranger30 for mobile #airdefence – order value in the triple-digit million euro range https://t.co/UxhLOj2qzT pic.twitter.com/XSUXOUrgWZ
— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) December 12, 2025
De dreiging door drones groeit. Daarom investeert Nederland in de Skyranger: een systeem dat drones binnen 5 km razendsnel uitschakelt. Vandaag is het contract voor de aankoop getekend.
Lees meer via: https://t.co/rMaM7ujwql pic.twitter.com/fkF4NYBGMq
— Ministerie van Defensie (@Defensie) December 11, 2025
