At the end of 2023, the first battery of the Skynex air defense system was delivered to Ukraine, manufactured by Rheinmetall Italia and funded by the German government.
The delivery of this battery was paid for under a contract of 160 million dollars, which was signed in December 2022. The delivery of the second Skynex battery to Ukraine under this contract is scheduled for March 2024.
Read more: Ukraine Received Skynex Air Defense Systems and Became One Step Closer to Echeloned Air Defense
This was announced by the Chief Executive Officer of Rheinmetall Italia, Alessandro Ercolani, as reported by the Defense News portal.
From Defense Express, we add that the aforementioned news can be considered somewhat unexpected and even mysterious because it does not align with previously known data about the planned delivery of Skynex air defense systems to Ukraine.
The information available publicly indicated that the contract for the delivery of two Skynex batteries was concluded at the end of 2022, with a total cost of 186 million dollars. And also that it was paid by an "international customer," and the delivery deadline was announced – until 2024.
Perhaps, up to this moment, not all details related to the issues of Skynex air defense system deliveries were publicly available, hence the described minor discrepancies.
We will remind you of the characteristics of this important air defense missile system designed to protect Ukraine's critical infrastructure and destroy enemy Shahed drones as well as cruise missiles at short ranges.
Skynex system features a 50km range radar, a command post and four guns, each equipped with electro-optical sensors and a tracking radar, which are able to fire 1,000 35mm rounds a minute, hitting a target four kilometers away.
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