Ukraine and Russia use inexpensive drones every day in their fight against each other. Rheinmetall is developing the Skynex air defense system to combat this. According to a report, the system failed during a Russian attack in April.
Rheinmetall's Skynex air defense system may have failed in a Russian airstrike on Ukraine. As reported by "Stern" magazine, citing an internal report from the Ukrainian military, significant technical problems arose during a drone attack. According to "Stern" magazine, Rheinmetall rejects the accusations. When asked, the German arms company stated: The system has proven to be "extraordinarily effective and reliable" in Ukraine.
According to reports, the internal report deals with a Russian drone attack on the 1st. April 2026. According to reports, Skynex has largely failed to protect an industrial site in western Ukraine. A Russian Shahed drone was not shot down despite multiple detection methods. Two independent parties involved have confirmed the drone impact. According to the report, the site was protected by two Skynex systems with a total of eight 35mm cannons, two radars and two command posts.
The document cites a combination of technical defects and problems with target tracking as the cause. According to the report, three of the eight guns failed within minutes, due in part to hydraulic defects, a failure of the tracking radar, and a jamming. In the end, only two of the eight cannons could have pursued the target stably. The report's conclusion is sobering: The system demonstrated "low technical operational readiness", operated "extremely unreliably", and did not meet the technical specifications provided by the manufacturer.
Rheinmetall disagrees
Rheinmetall declined to comment on specific operational details and days of operation for safety reasons. A company spokesman stated that the weapons system had proven to be "extraordinarily effective and reliable" in Ukraine. This has also been confirmed to the company by the Ukrainian side. A German military representative said that too few guns were currently in use for a final judgment on the quality of Skynex. Furthermore, operator error may also have caused the failure, it was stated.
Skynex is a modular air defense system for so-called close-range operations. It was specifically designed to defend against threats such as drones, cruise missiles, artillery, helicopters and low-flying aircraft. Each system is equipped with four 35-millimeter guns. According to reports, they can fire up to 1000 shots per minute. They fire programmable ammunition that releases numerous subprojectiles shortly before reaching the target.
This is intended to make the system particularly effective against small and fast targets. Furthermore, air defense with ammunition is significantly cheaper per target repelled than air defense with missiles, especially in the fight against cheap drones.
