Skyranger
35-mm anti-aircraft gun system



The Skyranger anti-aircraft gun system was developed by Oerlikon Contraves, a Swiss company, a subsidiary of the German Rheinmetall Defence. It is a short-range air defense system, designed to protect mobile units and stationary installations. This artillery system was revealed in 2009. Currently the Skyranger is still under development, however a number of potential customers have already announced their interest in obtaining this system.
The Skyranger unmanned turret is a member of a whole modular family of air defense systems. These include battle management, gun systems and missile systems, that can form an air defense architecture. The Skyranger gun system can also operate autonomously or in conjunction with existing missile systems and fire control units.
The Skyranger gun system can be mounted on lightweight wheeled or tracked armored vehicles. First prototypes were integrated on MOWAG Piranha IIIH, Piranha IV and Boxer 8x8 armored personnel carriers.
The unmanned turret is equipped with a 35-mm revolver gun, which is based on successful 35/1000 revolver gun. It has a lot of commonality with the previous Oerlikon Contraves 35-mm air defense artillery systems. It has an dual feeding system, which gives the operator choice of two types of ammunition. This air-defense system is optimized to fire the company's proprietary 35-mm AHEAD (Advanced Hit Efficiency And Destruction) ammunition. It is a self-programming ammunition, developed to improve lethality of the previous GDF series of twin 35-mm towed anti-aircraft guns. These rounds release a cloud of sub-projectiles just ahead of the target, greatly increasing the probability of a kill. Fewer rounds of ammunition are required per kill, because of it's effectiveness, permitting a greater number of engagements. A typical engagement sequence consists of 20 - 24 rounds. It is effective against small and fast moving air targets. Effective range of fire is about 4 km. The AHEAD ammunition is already in service with more than 10 countries.
The Skyranger gun system is also effective against ground targets and can be used as a fire support weapon. It uses Frangible Amour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FAPDS) rounds against ground targets. Range of effective fire is about 5 000 meters.
This artillery system has a selectable rate of fire. A maximum rate is 1 000 rounds per minute. It is also capable of firing mini-bursts or single shots. A total of 220 rounds are carried for the main gun.
The Skyranger unmanned turret has an electro-optical tracking sensor, which automatically tracks the targets, assigned either by the control center, external radars, or targets acquired by it's own sensors. The passive sensor system consists of an infrared camera, TV camera, laser rangefinder. It is an all-weather system, which operates in day or night conditions.
The Skyranger unmanned turret is operated by commander and gunner, seated inside the vehicle hull. There is also a vehicle driver.
Other component of the Skyranger air defense system is a command post vehicle, with reconnaissance radar and command system, which provides battle management capabilities. It has a tracking range of 25 km. There is also a missile launcher. Manufacturer suggests, that a typical Skyranger battery should comprise two gun systems, one missile launcher and one radar/command vehicle. It is possible to network up to six Skyranger gun or missile units depending on mission requirements.
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