Austrian Pandur vehicles to schlep slimmed Skyranger air defense gun

BERLIN — The Austrian military will receive 36 air defense systems for its Pandur EVO wheeled armored vehicles. The country’s minister of defense, Klaudia Tanner, announced the deal worth about half a billion Euros last week.

It will make Austria the first country to use a modified version of Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 30 system. The weapons station in its Austrian configuration now weighs three tons – a quarter less than in its original design – making it suitable for mounting on the Austrian military’s six-axle Pandur EVO vehicles, the daily paper “Der Standard” reported. A reduction in armor and streamlining of the design were reported to have allowed for this significant reduction.

Just a week earlier, the Ministry of Defense had announced that Austria would purchase an additional 225 six-axle Pandurs for a total of €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion). Austrian media reported that the cost of the Rheinmetall air defense systems had already been included in this total.

Austria had previously ordered 100 Pandur Evos, the majority of which have already been delivered.

General Dynamics European Land Systems assembles the vehicles in Simmering, Vienna, where the Rheinmetall weapons station will be integrated,

The Austrian Skyranger 30 systems will combine a sensor suite with a 30-millimeter cannon and guided Mistral missiles, Rheinmetall said in a press release.

In addition to the 36 units of the mobile air defense system, the contract includes the option for nine further systems, Austrian media reported.

The first deliveries are set to take place in 2026, Rheinmetall said in a statement. The company touted the deal as a “market breakthrough,” noting that they expected orders for the new system to follow from Germany, Denmark and Hungary. Germany approved the acquisition of the original Skyranger 30 system just a few days before the Austrian deal was announced.

The acquisition of the mobile air defense system and the armored vehicles is part of the Austrian military’s push to increase its combat readiness in light of the worsening security situation in Europe following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Austria joined the German-led European Sky Shield air defense initiative , ESSI, in 2023 and has since announced a series of procurements to that end. These included the IRIS-T system and long-range missiles. The Skyranger 30 system, in turn, promises to offer short-range, immediate protection for ground forces in the field.

“With … a rapidly deployable 35mm solution, the Austrian military is now pointing the way in contemporary air defense. Progressive networking and integration of existing and higher-echelon systems will result in decisive strategic advantages,” the Rheinmetall statement reads.

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 master’s degrees in WMD nonproliferation, terrorism studies, and international relations, and works in four languages: English, German, Russian, and Spanish.

柏林——奥地利军方将为其潘杜尔EVO轮式装甲车采购36套防空系统。奥地利国防部长克劳迪娅·坦纳上周宣布了这项价值约5亿欧元的军售协议。

这将使奥地利成为首个使用莱茵金属公司Skyranger 30系统改进型的国家。据《标准报》报道，奥地利版Skyranger 30武器站的重量为三吨，比原设计轻了四分之一，使其能够安装在奥地利军队的六轴Pandur EVO装甲车上。据悉，装甲的减少和设计的简化是实现这一显著减重的关键。

就在一周前，奥地利国防部宣布将以18亿欧元（约合19.5亿美元）的总价增购225辆六轴潘杜尔装甲车。奥地利媒体报道称，莱茵金属公司提供的防空系统的费用已包含在总价中。

奥地利此前订购了 100 辆 Pandur Evo，其中大部分已经交付。

通用动力欧洲陆地系统公司在维也纳附近的西默灵组装这些车辆，莱茵金属公司的武器站也将集成到那里。

莱茵金属公司在一份新闻稿中表示，奥地利的 Skyranger 30 系统将结合一套传感器套件、一门 30 毫米机炮和制导的“西北风”导弹。

据奥地利媒体报道，除了36套移动式防空系统外，该合同还包括增购9套系统的选项。

莱茵金属公司在一份声明中表示，首批产品预计将于2026年交付。该公司称这笔交易是“市场突破”，并指出预计德国、丹麦和匈牙利也将陆续订购这套新系统。就在奥地利交易宣布前几天，德国批准了莱茵金属公司收购原有的Skyranger 30系统的计划。

鉴于 2022 年俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后欧洲安全形势恶化，奥地利军方为提高战备水平而采购移动式防空系统和装甲车。

奥地利于2023年加入由德国主导的欧洲天空之盾防空计划（ESSI），并随后宣布了一系列相关采购计划，其中包括IRIS-T系统和远程导弹。而Skyranger 30系统则承诺为地面部队提供近程即时防护。

莱茵金属公司在一份声明中表示：“凭借……可快速部署的35毫米炮解决方案，奥地利军方正在引领现代防空发展方向。现有系统与更高层级系统的逐步联网和集成将带来决定性的战略优势。”

林努斯·霍勒是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者和开源情报调查员。他报道影响欧洲乃至全球的军火交易、制裁和地缘政治。他拥有大规模杀伤性武器不扩散、恐怖主义研究和国际关系三个硕士学位，并精通英语、德语、俄语和西班牙语四种语言。