On Thursday, July 2, 2026, German group Rheinmetall AG announced the receipt in the second quarter of this year of a contract worth several hundred million EUR from an undisclosed foreign customer for the delivery of four Oerlikon Skynex 35mm short-range artillery air defense systems. This is to be the first of planned contracts, covering truck chassis, ammunition, and comprehensive integrated logistical support.
Photos: Rheinmetall AG
The full contract scope covers the delivery of four complete Skynex systems, with a total execution time of 39 months. Delivery of the first Skynex battery is to take place 21 months after contract signing. Subsequent batteries will be delivered sequentially, with each delivery occurring six months after the completion of the previous one.
The integrated logistical support package, fully included in the total contract value, will ensure operational readiness through specialist training, spare parts, specialist tools, and consumables.
Rheinmetall Italia is the prime contractor for this project. Several key subsidiaries of the Rheinmetall AG group are actively involved in the system deliveries: Rheinmetall Air Defense, Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV), and Rheinmetall Weapon and Munitions (Switzerland).
Description
The Oerlikon Skynex was unveiled in November 2021, when it was tested against unmanned aerial vehicles at the Air Defence Systems Group 2021 event at Rheinmetall’s facility in Zurich, Switzerland.
The vehicle is integrated with the Skyranger turret module, developed by Oerlikon Contraves, which is armed with a 35mm Revolver Gun Mk3 automatic cannon, coupled with an X-TAR3D three-dimensional X-band radar and a Skymaster electro-optical turret for the detection, tracking, and engagement of small aerial targets (with instrumented ranges of 25, 35, and 55 km). Thanks to the modular and open architecture of the Skymaster command and control system, integration of other effectors is possible, such as Denel Cheetah missiles, the Oerlikon Twin Gun GDF009 TREO dual 35mm cannon, and the Oerlikon Laser Gun high-energy laser weapon.
The Oerlikon Skyranger was developed primarily to counter threats from drones (C-UAS), low-flying manned aircraft, rockets, and mortar rounds. The electronically programmable 35mm×228 AHEAD (Advanced Hit Efficiency and Destruction) fragmentation ammunition with tungsten sub-projectiles can also be used to engage ground targets. The effective range of the Oerlikon Revolver Gun Mk.3 is 4,000 m, with a theoretical rate of fire of 1,050 rounds per minute. A single burst is limited to 200 rounds.
The weapon can be fed with four types of 35mm AHEAD ammunition: PMD062 with 152 sub-projectiles, PMD330 with 497 sub-projectiles, PMD375 with 860 sub-projectiles, and PMD428 with over 600 sub-projectiles. The cannon can also fire high-explosive incendiary (HEI), high-explosive incendiary tracer (HEI-T), frangible armor-piercing discarding sabot (FAPDS), and practice rounds. A dual feed system allows the operator to use two types of ammunition simultaneously.
The Skyranger 30 system has also been developed, featuring the Oerlikon KCE cannon chambered in 30mm×173, with a theoretical rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute and an effective range of up to 3,000 m. This variant has been ordered on various chassis by Germany, Hungary, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Austria, with Lithuania expressing interest, while the Skyranger 35 variant was ordered by Romania under the SAFE program and previously for Ukraine.
Skynex export orders
In October 2022, the system was ordered by Qatar for approximately 219 million EUR, and in December by Ukraine (two systems for approximately 182 million EUR). In March 2024, Rheinmetall AG received a contract worth at least 100 million EUR (exact value not disclosed) from an undisclosed European customer for these systems. In January 2025, Italy ordered four systems in a static configuration (one under the base order for 73 million EUR and three under an option for 204 million EUR; the first was delivered in December). In May of this year, Romania ordered 7 systems for 476 million EUR under the aforementioned SAFE program
▶️ Contract worth several hundred million euros: Rheinmetall is supplying four Skynex systems to an international customer
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— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) July 2, 2026
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