BERLIN — German arms giant Rheinmetall is poised to deliver its Skyranger short-range air defense system to Ukraine by the end of the year, according to the company’s chief executive.
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger told German public media earlier in the week that a contract to that effect would be signed on Wednesday at the DSEI defense expo in the UK.
As of late morning Thursday, a deal had yet to be announced.
The contract will be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, Papperger told broadcaster ZDF on Monday.
The Skyranger system is a short-range air defense turret that can be mounted on a variety of vehicle bases, including older tanks. Its 35-millimeter cannon can cover an area of 16 square kilometers, or six square miles, and is particularly useful in intercepting low-flying objects, such as drones.
“Each of these systems can cover four by four kilometers to be completely drone-free,” Papperger told German broadcaster ZDF.
Germany has been Ukraine’s most significant European backer since the start of the invasion. The Düsseldorf-based arms giant Rheinmetall has said it considers itself Ukraine’s “most important defense industry partner in the fight against Russian aggression.”
Alongside main battle tanks, armored fighting vehicles and ammunition of various types, the company has also sent other air defense systems of the Gepard and Skynex varieties to Kyiv in the past.
Linus Höller is Defense News’ Europe correspondent and OSINT investigator. He reports on the arms deals, sanctions, and geopolitics shaping Europe and the world. He holds a master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.
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