Leopard 1A5 with Skyranger 35: Ukraine's new anti-aircraft powerhouse

The Ukrainians are very satisfied with the received 70 self-propelled anti-aircraft sets Gepard / Cheetah PRTL, but unfortunately, the available pool of machines to be retrieved or repurchased has run out.

Therefore, the Rheinmetall corporation, responsible for refurbishing the armored equipment provided to Ukraine and renewing old Leopard 1A5s, decided to take an interesting move. As early as June 2024, Björn Bernhard, head of Rheinmetall Landsysteme, confirmed the ongoing work on mounting the Skyranger 35 system turret on this outdated but already well-known chassis in Ukraine. Now, the first photo of the result of this program has appeared, which might soon undergo certification and be able to be delivered to Ukraine in a few months.

The Germans chose the Skyranger 35 system turret as the firing source because it provides compatibility with the ammunition used in the Gepards delivered to Ukraine. The firing source is a modern Oerlikon Revolver Gun Mk3 35 mm caliber cannon, capable of firing 1,000 rounds per minute. In practice, this is the same firepower as the Gepards, which have two KDA cannons with a firing rate of 550 rounds per minute each. Additionally, there is programmable ammunition.

This provides a higher chance of shooting down a target while simultaneously using less ammunition. Each round contains a projectile with several thousand tungsten balls that explode at a specified distance, creating a cloud of fragments that destroy the target.

The projectile is programmed at the moment it leaves the barrel when it passes through sensors and programming coils that measure its speed and set the detonator for an explosion after a specified time. The ballistic computer calculates the time based on the projectile's muzzle velocity, distance to the target, its speed, and the predicted flight trajectory of the target. A radar or an electro-optical head with a thermal imaging camera and a laser rangefinder is used to collect this data.

This allows for destroying objects such as airplanes, helicopters, drones, or cruise missiles at a distance of about 2.5 miles using a series of 1-4 projectiles costing only a few thousand dollars. This is a very low cost compared to missiles, which can cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Skyranger 35 system turret weighs about 11,200 pounds, and the ammunition supply in the land version is 252 rounds. It is possible that the magazine may be larger in the case of the version on the Leopard. Now, only testing remains to be completed, and possibly next year the Gepard 1.5 will reach Ukraine, where it is likely to perform much better than its predecessor, which is already several decades old.