On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, German group Rheinmetall AG announced that it has signed an executive contract worth 470 million EUR with the General Directorate for Armaments (Direcția generală pentru armamente) of the Romanian Ministry of National Defence for the delivery of 24 Oerlikon Skyranger 35mm very short-range air defense systems on KF41 Lynx chassis under the EU loan program SAFE (Security Action for Europe).
Photo: Rheinmetall AG
The framework agreement in this matter was signed on May 29 of this year, together with four other agreements with a combined value of 4.768 billion EUR net / 5.7 billion EUR gross.
Two batteries consisting of 24 Oerlikon Skyranger 35mm systems will be integrated onto KF41 Lynx chassis, of which 298 units were ordered in total under the MLI (Mașina de Luptă a Infanteriei) program, predominantly in infantry fighting vehicle configuration, but also as mortar carriers, command vehicles, and medical evacuation vehicles. Deliveries are planned for 2028-2030.
Oliver Dürr, Head of Rheinmetall’s Air Defence Division, emphasizes the strategic significance of the Oerlikon Skyranger 35mm contract:
“Romania’s decision to choose the Skyranger 35 on the Lynx platform is a significant milestone for European air defence. We are proud to continue our decades-long partnership with the Romanian government and provide the country with direct support in this critical security situation. The recent drone incident has shown how quickly airborne threats can become a reality. The Skyranger 35 provides Romania with a highly efficient and flexible solution for protecting soldiers reliably as well as critical infrastructure against modern threats at short and very short range.”
The Skyranger 35 is equipped with the KDG 35/1000 anti-aircraft revolver cannon (a variant of the naval Oerlikon Millennium Gun/GDM-008), fed with 35mm×228 AHEAD (Advanced Hit Efficiency and Destruction) programmable ammunition with a fragmentation projectile dispensing tungsten sub-projectiles, with a theoretical rate of fire of 1,000 rounds per minute, though a single burst is limited to 200 rounds.
The weapon can be fed with four types of 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.
It has an effective range of up to 4,000 m and high compatibility with the Oerlikon Revolver Gun Mk 3 artillery system. In the future, integration of the Skyranger 35 with modern guided missiles will also be possible.
The system’s primary sensors are: the Oerlikon AMMR (AESA Multi-Mission Radar), an S-band multifunctional radar system designed for detecting drones and other small targets in counter-UAS (C-UAS), short-range air defense (SHORAD), and very short-range air defense (VSHORAD) roles; and an EO/IR electro-optical camera with a laser rangefinder and automatic target tracking, providing full 360° coverage. The turret module weighs 4.5 tonnes, and the system provides area air defense coverage of 4 km × 4 km.
It is worth noting that the original Skyranger 35 variant on a GTK Boxer wheeled armored personnel carrier chassis made its debut at the Eurosatory trade show in Paris in 2018, but the Bundeswehr ultimately selected the lighter 30mm Skyranger 30 variant, unveiled in 2021 (similarly, this variant was ordered on various chassis by Hungary, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Denmark, and Austria, with Lithuania expressing interest). The original Skyranger 35 featured, however, a 2D/3D X-band radar and a Skymaster electro-optical turret (Integration of the MBDA DefendAir Missile with the Skyranger 30 System).
Meanwhile, on September 18, 2024, during the Skyranger System Demonstration in Switzerland, a new version of the Skyranger 35 made its debut, mounted on a Leopard 1 tank chassis. In September 2025, the system in this configuration was ordered for Ukraine.
Strengthening #NATO’s eastern flank: Romania orders #Skyranger35 #airdefence systems from #Rheinmetall https://t.co/0zO3lRuxYh
— Rheinmetall (@RheinmetallAG) June 24, 2026