Netherlands orders Skyranger anti-drone cannons for under €1 billion

PARIS — The Netherlands has ordered Skyranger anti-drone cannons from Germany’s Rheinmetall for less than €1 billion (US$1.2 billion), below the budget flagged to parliament in January.

The Dutch will buy mobile versions of the Skyranger air-defense system as well as systems for stationary use, the Ministry of Defence said late Thursday. The first Skyrangers will be handed over late 2028, with deliveries completed by end-2029, Rheinmetall said in a separate statement Friday.

As drones have become ubiquitous on the front line in Ukraine, European countries are figuring out how to protect maneuvering troops against that threat. The Netherlands last month said it would fit a remote-controlled weapon system on wheeled armor as a quick-fix first capability ahead of the delivery of Skyrangers.

The Skyranger purchase “gives the Netherlands more options to defend itself against drones in the highest spectrum of violence,” the MoD said.

The Skyranger systems will complement existing short- and medium-range air defense, and will protect combat units as well as critical objects and locations such as the port of Rotterdam and military sites, the ministry said. The port of Rotterdam is Europe’s biggest, and a key hub for moving military supplies, including to Ukraine.

Rheinmetall said it will supply the Netherlands with a “two-digit number” of Skyranger systems, with a contract value in the “high triple-digit” million euro range. The company is unable to provide exact numbers for contractual reasons, Rheinmetall told Defense News, while the Dutch MoD didn’t immediately respond to emailed questions.

The defense firm said the Netherlands will receive “a completely new system” that can be used either in a mobile configuration on vehicles or as a stationary setup. Until now, Rheinmetall had been marketing Skyranger as a mobile system, displaying the cannon mounted on armor at defense shows such as Eurosatory in Paris and DSEI in London.

The Skyranger 30 is equipped with a 30mm revolver cannon that fires airburst munition, designed to take out drones weighing up to 600 kilograms at a distance of up to 5 kilometers.

In addition to the weapon platform consisting of a standard Skyranger 30 air-defense turret and lower mount for use on an armored carrier, the Dutch also ordered tactical-level control nodes and hook-lift transport platforms for stationary deployment, Rheinmetall said.

“The configuration for the Dutch armed forces, which enables both highly mobile operations and stationary use without a carrier vehicle, is unique to date,” said Oliver Dürr, managing director of Rheinmetall Air Defence. “Another NATO country has already expressed interest in this configuration.”

The Netherlands was planning to buy 22 Skyranger mobile air-defense cannons , in a project with a budget of €1.3 billion, State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman told parliament in January.

“The upgrade of the Dutch mobile air defense capabilities also includes services provided by other suppliers,” Rheinmetall told Defense News in response to a question about the difference in value. “In addition, contracts can be extended.”

The Netherlands signed a contract with Rheinmetall Switzerland, which will build the first three prototypes, while Rheinmetall’s business in Ede in the Netherlands will play a “major role” in production and assembly of the remaining systems, the MoD said.

Detailed planning is still ongoing, with the Ede site set to integrate the air-defense systems onto the vehicle structure, while maintenance and spare-parts supply could also be handled from the Dutch location, according to Rheinmetall.

Hensoldt signed a long-term framework agreement to provide Rheinmetall with its Spexer 2000 radar for ground-based air defense, in particular for drone defense and the Skyranger 30 system, the German defense-electronics maker said in a separate statement Friday . The agreement will remain valid until the 2030s, and has a potential volume in the “high three-digit range,” Hensoldt said.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——荷兰已向德国莱茵金属公司订购了“天行者”反无人机炮，总价不到10亿欧元（12亿美元），低于1月份向议会提出的预算。

荷兰国防部周四晚间宣布，荷兰将采购“天行者”（Skyranger）防空系统的移动版本以及固定式版本。莱茵金属公司周五在另一份声明中表示，首批“天行者”系统将于2028年底交付，所有交付工作将于2029年底完成。

随着无人机在乌克兰前线日益普及，欧洲各国正在研究如何保护机动部队免受这种威胁。荷兰上个月表示，将在“空中游骑兵”（Skyranger）无人机交付之前，先在轮式装甲车上安装遥控武器系统，作为一项快速有效的应对措施。

荷兰国防部表示，购买 Skyranger 无人机“使荷兰在应对最高级别暴力无人机袭击方面拥有更多自卫选择”。

国防部表示，Skyranger系统将与现有的短程和中程防空系统形成互补，保护作战部队以及鹿特丹港和军事设施等重要目标和地点。鹿特丹港是欧洲最大的港口，也是军事物资运输的重要枢纽，包括向乌克兰的物资运输。

莱茵金属公司表示，将向荷兰供应“两位数”套“天行者”（Skyranger）系统，合同金额高达数亿欧元。莱茵金属公司告诉《防务新闻》，由于合同原因，公司无法提供确切数量。荷兰国防部尚未回复记者的电子邮件问询。

这家国防公司表示，荷兰将获得一套“全新的系统”，该系统既可以安装在车辆上进行移动部署，也可以作为固定装置使用。此前，莱茵金属公司一直将“天行者”（Skyranger）作为移动系统进行推广，并在巴黎国际防务展（Eurosatory）和伦敦国际防务展（DSEI）等防务展上展示了安装在装甲车辆上的火炮。

Skyranger 30 配备一门 30 毫米转轮炮，可发射空爆弹药，旨在摧毁 5 公里范围内重达 600 公斤的无人机。

莱茵金属公司表示，除了由标准的 Skyranger 30 防空炮塔和用于装甲运兵车的下部安装座组成的武器平台外，荷兰还订购了战术级控制节点和用于固定部署的钩臂式运输平台。

莱茵金属防空公司总经理奥利弗·杜尔表示：“荷兰武装部队的这种配置方案，既能实现高度机动作战，又能无需运载车辆进行固定部署，目前尚属独一无二。另一个北约国家也已对这种配置方案表示出兴趣。”

荷兰国防国务秘书吉斯·图因曼 (Gijs Tuinman) 在 1 月份向议会表示，荷兰计划购买 22 门 Skyranger 移动式防空炮，该项目预算为 13 亿欧元。

莱茵金属公司在回答《防务新闻》关于价值差异的问题时表示：“荷兰移动防空能力的升级还包括其他供应商提供的服务。此外，合同还可以延期。”

荷兰国防部表示，荷兰已与瑞士莱茵金属公司签署合同，由该公司制造前三个原型机，而莱茵金属公司位于荷兰埃德的业务部门将在其余系统的生产和组装中发挥“重要作用”。

据莱茵金属公司称，详细的规划仍在进行中，埃德工厂将负责把防空系统集成到车辆结构上，而维护和备件供应也可以从荷兰工厂进行。

德国国防电子制造商莱茵金属公司周五在一份单独声明中表示，亨索尔特公司已签署一项长期框架协议，将向其提供用于地面防空（特别是无人机防御和“天行者30”系统）的Spexer 2000雷达。亨索尔特公司称，该协议有效期至2030年代，潜在订单量将达到“三位数”。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。