Rheinmetall unveils Leopard 1 with Skyranger 35 turret

A Leopard 1 with a Skyranger 35 turret at a live-fire demonstration at Rheinmetall's Ochsenboden range in Switzerland on 19 September. (Rheinmetall)

Rheinmetall unveiled a Leopard 1 armoured vehicle with a Skyranger 35 (SR35) turret at a live-fire demonstration at its Ochsenboden range in Switzerland on 18–19 September.

The system could be heard firing as Rheinmetall Air Defence briefed national delegations and journalists including Janes inside a tent on the morning of 18 September, but failed to do so during the demonstration in the afternoon.

A Rheinmetall spokesperson said in a statement on 20 September, “Our colleagues began an error analysis on the SR35 on the spot as soon as the demonstration ended and quickly identified the issue – a defective pin in the gamepad, which is essential for operating the turret. The redundant safety signal that controls the firing trigger could therefore not be generated. As a result of the absence of the required signal, the system was unable to accept the command to fire. Our team was able to rectify this malfunction immediately, and it was therefore very important to us to organise another demonstration with the Skyranger 35 at short notice for the next day, which then took place in the presence of around 60 customers. It was a complete success – both the target drone and the ground targets were neutralised on the first attempt.”

The drone that the SR35 shot down was a 1/2 scale replica of an Iranian-built Shahed. At the firing demonstration on 18 September, the Skyranger 30 (SR30) prototype for the Bundeswehr shot down a smaller quadcopter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and fired and neutralised a pick-up truck.