Rheinmetall will provide Ukraine with drone defense systems

German defense company Rheinmetall plans to deliver Skyranger mobile artillery systems to Ukraine this year, designed specifically to counter drones.

This was announced in an interview with ZDF by the company’s CEO, Armin Papperger.

According to him, the contract will be signed this week in London. Papperger noted that these will be the first such systems supplied to Ukraine. Each system, he explained, can ensure that a 4-by-4 kilometer area “will be free of drones.”

Rheinmetall operates production facilities in Spain and Hungary, with additional plants planned in Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Latvia. In Ukraine, the company runs a repair center for armored vehicles and tanks and has orders to build three more plants. The Russian side has declared Rheinmetall factories on Ukrainian territory to be legitimate military targets.

Rheinmetall is Germany’s largest defense contractor and one of Ukraine’s key international defense-industrial partners.

In 2024, Papperger said Europe needs a short-range air defense system similar to Israel’s “Iron Dome” and reminded that Rheinmetall produces Skyranger systems.

Russian authorities continue to condemn Western arms supplies to Ukraine. The Kremlin has repeatedly emphasized that military aid to Kyiv will not prevent Moscow from achieving the goals of its military operation.