Ukraine has just received the second Skynex air defense system from Germany as part of the latest package of military aid, the German government announced on April 29.
According to its German manufacturer Rheinmetall, Skynex is a “networked air defense” that provides “a highly effective layered protection shield against a wide spectrum of air threats” and serves as “the necessary answer against saturation and swarm attacks in the future.”
In short, it’s a big, powerful, and highly accurate gun that is very effective at shooting down drones.
Why is it needed?
Big ticket air defense systems like NASAMs, IRIS-T and Patriot can easily shoot down drones but uisng them for this purpose has one major drawback – cost.
An Iranian-made Shahed drone, is, in terms of weaponry, cheap. Export versions cost around $193,000 and those made by Russia domestically, only about $10,000-$50,000.
One NASAM missile costs from $600,000 to $1 million. A Patriot missile is nearly $4 million. A relatively cheap IRIS-T missile is still around $450,000.
According to Ukraine’s Air Force, Russia has fired over 4,600 Shahed drones as of late February over the two years of full-scale war, so using air defense missiles to shoot them down is not a financially viable option in the long term.
“One of the key features of the war is the use of relatively low-cost delivery systems such as drones,” Martin J. Dougherty, weapons expert and author of “Aircraft, Tanks and Artillery of the Ukraine War,” told local media.
“Defense against such weapons requires a low cost per engagement and the ability to eliminate multiple threats in a short time.
“The difficulty of detecting, tracking, and hitting such small targets is also considerable.”
