The Austrian Armed Forces purchase 36 Skyranger 30 units. The system serves for short-range air defense and comes from RHEINMETALL. The turrets will be mounted on the Pandur EVO.

A portion of the Austrian Pandur fleet – 36 vehicles – will be equipped with the Skyranger turret to be able to perform mobile air defense tasks. Skyranger combines state-of-the-art sensors, a powerful 30mm gun armament and guided missiles, in this case Mistral.
Following the development contract that Rheinmetall won with Skyranger in December 2023 in Hungary, this first serial order marks the definitive market breakthrough.
The success in Austria marks the beginning of a broad introduction of the Skyranger 30 in Europe. A timely order is expected from Germany and Denmark, as well as – after the successful completion of the development contract in the country – from Hungary.

Thanks to an exceptional and comprehensive situational analysis that gained international recognition, the Austrian Federal Army has made the complete renewal of air defense a priority. The modernization and upgrading of the existing stationary 35mm systems to Skyguard Next Generation (NG) decided in December 2023 represents the first step. Now, with the decision to introduce the Skyranger 30, the gap in mobile air defense is also closed.

With the almost simultaneous introduction of a rapidly deployable 35mm solution, combined with a highly mobile 30mm solution (Skyranger), the Austrian Federal Army is setting a new standard in air defense. The further networking and integration into existing and higher-level systems bring decisive strategic advantages.

Thanks to the high competence of the decision-makers, in close collaboration with Rheinmetall specialists, an especially lightweight variant of the Skyranger 30 could be designed, which can be well integrated into the GDELS Pandur. The Skyranger 30 will decisively counter current and emerging aerial threats and allow the ground forces to focus on their main tasks. The well-thought combination of different means of effect, high dynamics with a wide elevation range, as well as state-of-the-art sensors, enables both autonomous and networked deployment. ALL INFO on the Skyranger System from Rheinmetall.