Rheinmetall and MBDA to Integrate Small Anti Drone Missile (SADM) Into Skyranger 30

To close the existing capability gaps in mobile defence against drones at short range, Rheinmetall Electronics and MBDA Deutschland signed a corresponding Letter of Intent (LOI) at ILA 2024. The companies intend to integrate MBDA’s Small Anti Drone Missile (SADM) into the Skyranger 30 and other Rheinmetall military vehicles. For its part, the 30mm cannon on the Skyranger 30 offers highly efficient, mobile defence against airborne threats by combining firepower, intelligent sensor technology and high mobility at shorter ranges. This means that the two weapons complement each other perfectly. The Letter of Intent aims at a long-term cooperation for the integration of the missile into the Skyranger 30 and other military vehicles as well as the development, production and integration of a launcher onto various turret systems and Rheinmetall’s digital system architecture. On the MBDA stand at ILA, location G3/001, the missile is displayed on the turret of the Skyranger 30 system.

Timo Haas, Chief Digital Officer von Rheinmetall: “As the prime contractor for the Skyranger 30 system in Germany, the Small Anti-Drone Missile is an ideal and logical addition to the capabilities of Rheinmetall’s systems and vehicles. We are working in advance and are already creating the conditions for the industrial set-up in order to quickly implement the customer’s decisions.”

Thomas Gottschild, Managing Director of MBDA Germany: “The current conflicts have clearly shown that drone defence is one of the key challenges for armed forces. In order to provide the best possible solution, we are joining forces and building on our partnership with Rheinmetall and their turret solutions to close capability gaps in drone defence with the help of our Small Anti Drone Missile.”

The Skyranger 30 is a short range air defense turret system developed by Rheinmetall Air Defence AG (formerly Oerlikon). Its role is to provide ground units with a mobile system capable of engaging fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, Group I and II unmanned aerial systems (UAS), loitering munitions and cruise missiles. The Skyranger 30 is fitted with a modified version of the Oerlikon KCA 30 mm cannon used on the Saab 37 Viggen fighter jet named the KCE. While it has a shorter effective range than the Skyranger 35 at 3 km, it has a higher rate of fire of 1,200 rounds per minute. It maintains the ability to elevate 85° to combat terminal diving targets. 252 ready rounds are carried. The gun fires a 30 mm airburst munition based on the 35 mm AHEAD ammunition carrying 160 tungsten cylinders, which is time-programmed upon leaving the muzzle to open up in front of a target to form a lethal cone.

The Small AntiDrone Missile (SADM) is a third evolution of the Enforcer. The Enforcer is a French infrared homing short range air defense system manufactured by MBDA Deutschland. The modular design of the Enforcer system enables a range of future development options, including a prospective ‘family’ of Enforcer munitions for land, air and sea applications. The Enforcer shoulder launched weapon system provides low-collateral precision effects capabilities against the threat from lightly armoured static and moving targets, targets behind cover, and against targets at long range also in urban environments. Resulting from a multinational MBDA development effort, Enforcer will complement the ‘Wirkmittel 90’ shoulder-launched unguided munition capability in the German Army. Enforcer has been under contract for Germany since December 2019. The contract will fulfil the German requirement for a lightweight, day/night, precision-guided weapon system with an effective range of more than 1,800 m.