Skyranger 30 for Belgium: Rheinmetall Wins Order for 20 Anti-Drone Gun Systems
The Skyranger 30 is coming to Belgium. Rheinmetall said on Monday 9 November 2026 that it has signed a contract to supply the Belgian armed forces with 20 Skyranger 30 air defence systems, mounted on hooklift platforms to protect Belgian territory and critical infrastructure from fixed positions. The company gave the value of the package, which also covers logistics, only as being “in the mid three-digit million-euro range” and said deliveries are scheduled to begin at the end of 2028, according to Rheinmetall’s press release.
- Belgium has contracted Rheinmetall for 20 Skyranger 30 air defence systems, the company announced on 9 November 2026
- The systems will sit on hooklift platforms for the stationary protection of Belgian territory and critical infrastructure
- Rheinmetall puts the package, including logistics, in the “mid three-digit million-euro range”; no exact figure was published
- Deliveries are due to begin at the end of 2028; the systems will be tied into the command and control of Belgium’s “Blue Dome” programme
What Belgium is buying
Rheinmetall describes the contract as covering 20 “30 mm Skyranger systems” plus the logistics that go with them. Unlike Germany’s Skyranger 30, which is fitted to the Boxer 8×8 shown in our file photo, Belgium’s turrets will be installed on hooklift platforms, a container-style mount that a truck can set down and pick up. Their stated job is stationary defence of the country and of critical infrastructure rather than escorting troops on the move.
The company said the contract was concluded less than 18 months after the first talks in June 2025, and credited “the Belgian authorities’ clear political commitment to protecting their own population”. It also said the programme was run in close consultation with the Netherlands, Belgium’s closest defence partner. No unit price was published, and dividing the package value by 20 would not give one, because the amount includes logistics.
“The rapid technological evolution of airborne threats requires cutting-edge, fully integrated defence systems,” said Roman Köhne, chief executive of Rheinmetall Air Defence. “The Skyranger 30 will make a decisive contribution to reliably safeguard Belgian territory and critical infrastructure.”
Blue Dome and Belgian industry
Rheinmetall said the systems will be fully integrated into the command and control architecture of Belgium’s “Blue Dome” programme. The Belgian news agency Belga reported that Defence Minister Theo Francken was due to present Blue Dome on the same day and that the NASAMS medium-range systems Belgium is buying form part of it. For how NASAMS compares with its European rival, see our NASAMS vs IRIS-T SLM comparison.
The company says Belgian technology firms are to be “closely integrated into the value chain”, and that it is willing to extend cooperation with Belgian industry to stationary and deployable counter-drone solutions. It has not named the Belgian companies or the share of work they would receive.
Platform background: what Skyranger 30 does
Skyranger 30 is a remotely operated turret built around the 30 x 173 mm Oerlikon KCE-ABM revolver cannon. According to Rheinmetall’s product brochure, the gun has a nominal rate of fire of 1,200 rounds a minute, 252 rounds ready to fire and an effective range of up to 3,000 m. Two optional short-range air defence missiles extend the engagement range to 6,000 m. The turret carries an integrated 360-degree AESA search radar and a stabilised electro-optical sensor unit.
Its main selling point against drones is programmable airburst ammunition: the round is fused to burst just in front of the target and release a cloud of sub-projectiles. Rheinmetall says this gives a very high hit probability against micro-drones. Our explainer Skyranger 30, Europe’s gun answer to the drone swarm covers its configurations and other customers in more detail.
Previous developments
The order returns Belgium to gun-based air defence after a long gap. Rheinmetall notes that 50 years ago, as Oerlikon Contraves and together with Krauss-Maffei, it supplied 36 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to the Belgian armed forces. Belgium later withdrew the Gepard and has relied on allied cover and short-range missiles since.
Industry context
Small drones and loitering munitions have pushed European armies back towards cannon-based short-range defence, because firing a missile costing far more than the target is not sustainable against large numbers of cheap drones. A gun layer sits under medium-range systems such as NASAMS in a layered network; our guide to layered counter-drone defence explains how the layers fit together. Belgium’s choice of a stationary hooklift version, as with Rheinmetall’s note that the Netherlands was closely involved, points to protecting fixed sites such as bases, ports and energy nodes rather than manoeuvre forces, although the Belgian government has not yet published a list of sites.
Sources: Rheinmetall press release, 9 November 2026; Rheinmetall Skyranger 30 brochure and ILA 2026 press kit; Belga News Agency, 9 November 2026.
