Ukraine receives state-of-the-art equipment from Germany to defend itself against Russian air raids.
(Photo: Rheinmetall)
Berlin The armaments group Rheinmetall will manufacture two Skynex air defense systems for the Ukraine. The company confirmed the order on Friday, but did not name the recipient country for the vehicles. According to information from government circles, this is Ukraine. The systems are scheduled for delivery in early 2024.
Skynex is intended for close-range air defense. Like the Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank already delivered to Ukraine by Germany, the system shoots down attacking drones or cruise missiles with 35mm ammunition. While the cheetah was developed during the Cold War, the vehicles now on order are new developments.
Rheinmetall puts the price for the two systems at 182 million euros. In addition, there are around twelve million euros for trucks, which are also to be built by the Düsseldorf company. According to the circles, the federal government wants to bear the costs. It is currently being examined which budget items can be used to settle these, it said.
Germany has already delivered Gepard and Iris-T
With Skynex, Germany is expanding its support for Ukraine, even if delivery is not scheduled to take place until the beginning of the year after next. In recent weeks, Russia has intensified airstrikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and cities with the aim of destroying electricity and water supply facilities.
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To repel these attacks, Germany has already delivered 30 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks and an Iris-T air defense system to Kyiv. Seven more Gepard vehicles and three Iris-T are to follow.
With the rocket-supported Iris-T and the Skynex developed by Diehl, the Ukraine receives the most modern equipment to defend itself against the Russian air raids.
Up to
500,000
Euro
costs a single defense missile according to information from industry circles.
While the Rheinmetall system was primarily developed for close-range defense, the Iris-T has a range of 40 kilometers. Both weapons are considered by experts to be very precise.
Compared to other systems, Skynex offers a financial advantage: while the unit price for defense missiles is between 300,000 and 500,000 euros, according to information from industry circles, shooting down an aircraft with the Rheinmetall system costs around 4,000 euros, as it was said.
More: Germany delivers seven more Gepard tanks to Ukraine.