As of: February 24, 2024, 7:08 p.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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The traffic light federal government and the German Bundestag are buying new anti-aircraft gun tanks for the Bundeswehr.
A CSU politician is directly calling for more Skyrangers from Rheinmetall.
Berlin - In the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, they are omnipresent on all sectors of the front: kamikaze drones.
How to protect yourself against this is an issue for many armies beyond the real battlefield.
Against the threat of drones: German Bundeswehr receives Skyranger anti-aircraft tank
The Bundeswehr is now getting new anti-aircraft gun tanks as a successor to the Gepard weapon system, which was decommissioned years ago.
The Defense Committee of the German Bundestag gave the green light for the procurement of 19 tanks this Wednesday (February 21st), as the
German Press Agency (dpa)
learned from defense circles.
The Bundeswehr is also reacting to the experiences from the Ukraine war, in which defense against drones plays a major role.
The anti-aircraft tank in question is the so-called “Skyranger” from the Rhineland arms company Rheinmetall from Düsseldorf.
The anti-aircraft system is integrated as a turret on military wheeled or tracked vehicles.
In the case of the Bundeswehr, the GTK Boxer wheeled armored vehicle is likely to serve as a platform.
New anti-aircraft gun tank: the Skyranger from Rheinmetall.
© IMAGO / Eibner
New anti-aircraft tanks for the Bundeswehr: CDU and CSU are calling for more Skyrangers
The defense policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Florian Hahn, criticized the long time it took to make a decision.
“The fact that it took two years until the procurement decision was made to close one of the most glaring capability gaps to protect troops from attacks from the air such as drones, even after the turning point was declared, shows once again that this federal government still does not recognize the seriousness of the situation has,” said the CSU politician to the
dpa
.
The Bundestag member from Munich also called for significantly more of the state-of-the-art German-made anti-aircraft tanks for the troops.
“How we want to deter people and achieve war capability with the homeopathic number decided today remains a secret of the federal government,” said the 49-year-old defense politician.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP had not yet commented on the new procurement for the German land forces, while it continues to work on the delivery of dozens of old Leopard 1 battle tanks for Ukraine.
Oerlikon Skyranger |
|
Weapon category: |
Army anti-aircraft defense |
Manufacturer: |
Rheinmetall Defense |
Vehicle: |
Wheeled armored vehicle GTK Boxer or armored personnel carrier Lynx |
Armament: |
Rheinmetall KDG revolver cannon in 35 x 228 mm caliber, rocket launcher for example for Stinger rockets, requirements for high-energy lasers |
Barrel length revolver cannon: |
3.15m |
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Bundeswehr: Skyrangers are supposed to flank Leopard 2 main battle tanks
The Skyranger features innovative innovations: Among other things, its airburst ammunition shreds targets with a hail of tungsten projectiles.
The weapon station is fully automated.
Because it is designed as a separate module in the tower, it can be installed on multiple carrier vehicles.
The module should also be able to be mounted on the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, which the Hungarian army uses.
In the German land forces, the Skyranger will in future literally flank the Leopard 2 tanks as an army air defense system to combat drones.
The ammunition is fired from a Rheinmetall KDG revolver cannon with a caliber of 35 x 228 millimeters.
A Skyranger Missile-type rocket launcher is also integrated, for example for Stinger rockets, so that it can be used to combat attack helicopters.
The members of the NATO defense alliance are arming themselves because of the threat from the regime of Moscow autocrat Vladimir Putin.
NATO is also holding the major exercise “Steadfast Defender 24” until May, including with the Bundeswehr’s 10th Armored Division “Oberpfalz”.
(pm)