Romania to order 7 Rheinmetall Skynex air defense systems under European SAFE program.

Romania's €16.6 billion SAFE financing package includes seven Rheinmetall Skynex very short-range air defense systems, funded under a 45-year EU credit facility with a 10-year grace period.

As reported by HotNews on January 26, 2026, Romania has detailed the structure of its €16.6 billion Security Action For Europe (SAFE) financing package, which includes the procurement of seven complete Rheinmetall Skynex very short-range air defense batteries. The programs funded under SAFE are scheduled for completion by 2030 and are financed through long-term EU-backed credit conditions.
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A standard Skynex air defense system consists of four 35 mm Revolver Gun Mk3 unmanned turrets, one Skynex Control Node CN-1 command-and-control post using the Skymaster battle management system, and at least one X-TAR3D X-band radar for airspace surveillance. (Picture source: Army Recognition)

The SAFE credit is structured over 45 years with a 10-year grace period, meaning repayments begin after 2035, and under interest conditions aligned with the EU’s AAA borrowing framework rather than Romania’s BBB rating. Of the total €16.6 billion, €9.6 billion is allocated to military procurement, €4.2 billion to strategic highway projects on the A7 Pascani–Suceava–Siret and A8 Motca–Iasi–Ungheni axes toward Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, and €2.8 billion to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other national security bodies. Within the defense share, air defense is prioritized to address aerial threats, including drones, cruise missiles, rockets, and indirect fire.

Romania’s SAFE-funded defense portfolio covers 21 programs valued at €9.53 billion, split between 10 joint European procurements and 11 national acquisitions. Ground forces modernization includes 139 Piranha 5 8x8 armored personnel carriers valued at €761.2 million, 198 tracked infantry fighting vehicles valued at €2.98 billion, and at least 1,370 wheeled logistics and transport vehicles valued at €471.505 million. Naval acquisitions include two offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) valued at €700 million and seven Naval Strike Missile (NSM) coastal defense systems valued at €207 million. Air and sensor programs include a minimum of 12 Airbus H225M multi-mission helicopters valued at €852 million, 12 medium-range surveillance radar systems valued at €258 million, two integrated air and missile defense command posts valued at €160 million, and three medium-range surface-to-air missile systems valued at €450 million, establishing layered air defense coverage from very short to medium range.

Within this framework, Romania specified the acquisition of seven complete Skynex air defense systems from the German company Rheinmetall, each corresponding to one battery configured for dislocable very short-range air defense with counter-UAS and counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar roles. The SAFE allocation lists the seven Skynex systems at €476 million, and as a Skynex battery is composed of four guns, this means that Romania's request totals 28 guns for about $500 million, including ammunition. A standard Skynex battery consists of four 35 mm Revolver Gun Mk3 unmanned turrets, one Skynex Control Node CN-1 command-and-control post using the Skymaster battle management system, and at least one X-TAR3D X-band radar for airspace surveillance. Based on this baseline structure, Romania’s planned purchase results in 7 batteries, 28 Revolver Gun Mk3 cannons, 7 command nodes, and a minimum of 7 radars.

The Skynex system is built on a networked architecture that separates airspace surveillance from engagement functions, allowing sensors and effectors to be distributed while remaining centrally coordinated. Each battery is organized around a CN-1 command node that fuses sensor inputs using the Skymaster battle management system to generate a three-dimensional local air picture, manages threat prioritization, and assigns engagements to connected gun units or optional effectors. This structure allows a battery to be integrated into higher-level air defense command networks, enabling Skynex batteries to function both as autonomous point-defense units and as part of a layered national air defense system. For Romania, this design supports both static protection of critical infrastructure and mobile deployment to forward or temporary locations.

Airspace surveillance in a baseline Skynex battery is typically provided by the Oerlikon X-TAR3D X-band radar, a fully coherent phased-array pulse-Doppler system designed for detection, acquisition, tracking, classification, and identification of aerial threats. The radar provides instrumented detection ranges of 25 km, 35 km, or up to 50–55 km depending on configuration, supports 360-degree coverage, tracks up to about 50 air targets simultaneously, and maintains performance against low radar cross-section objects such as UAVs, cruise missiles, rockets, and mortar rounds. Optional Multi Sensor Units can add 3D AESA radar panels with electro-optical and infrared channels, offering detection ranges of more than 20–30 km for 1 m² radar cross-section targets, automated target classification, 360-degree coverage without mechanical rotation, and sensor data fusion within the Skymaster command network.

The primary effector in the Skynex system is the Oerlikon Revolver Gun Mk3, a 35 mm automatic cannon with integrated radar tracker and electro-optical sensor suite, optimized for very short-range air defense. Each gun has a rate of fire of up to about 1,000 rounds per minute, supports autonomous target acquisition and tracking, and can receive cueing data from 2D or 3D search radars such as the X-TAR3D. Engagement ranges are typically up to about 4 km for small aerial targets, with effective coverage against drones, loitering munitions, helicopters, cruise missiles, rockets, and mortar rounds. The guns can be deployed on demountable hook-lift platforms in semi-mobile configurations or mounted on 6x6 military trucks in fully mobile setups, enabling rapid redeployment.

A central element of the Skynex system is the use of programmable 35x228 mm AHEAD airburst ammunition, designed to increase hit probability against small and agile targets. Each AHEAD round contains 152 tungsten sub-projectiles weighing 3.3 g each and incorporates a time-based fuze that is programmed during firing by a muzzle-mounted ammunition programmer. The fuze timing is set according to the target’s range, causing the round to burst just before intercept and release a forward-directed cloud of sub-projectiles. This mechanism increases lethality against drones and small projectiles, reduces dependence on direct hits, and avoids reliance on radio-frequency or infrared guidance that can be degraded by electronic countermeasures.

Skynex is developed and produced within Rheinmetall’s air defense industrial structure, with core manufacturing and integration activities in Germany and Switzerland and technological roots in the Oerlikon gun and sensor lineage. The system is in service or on order with multiple operators, including Ukraine, which received two Skynex systems configured with four Revolver Gun Mk3 cannons, a CN-1 command node, and an X-TAR3D radar, and Italy, which ordered four static Skynex systems with initial deliveries completed in December 2025. Qatar has also disclosed Skynex-related assets, including Revolver Gun Mk3 units and X-TAR3D radar components. Romania’s planned acquisition would add a seventh European user and expand its national air defense inventory with 7 batteries, 28 guns, and a radar-and-command architecture optimized for very short-range aerial threat interception.

Originally developed in Switzerland by Oerlikon, the Skynex is now built at Rheinmetall Italia to circumvent Swiss restrictions on direct exports of completed war materials and facilitate the deployment to Ukraine. The system is already fielded or on order with several operators, including Ukraine, which received two Skynex systems configured with four guns, a CN-1 node, and an X-TAR3D radar, and Italy, which ordered four static Skynex systems with first deliveries completed in December 2025. Qatar has also revealed Skynex-related capabilities involving Revolver Gun Mk3 units and associated sensors. Romania’s planned acquisition would add another European operator and integrate Skynex into a broader national air defense modernization effort extending to 2030.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.