09/09/2026
Ukraine has confirmed that Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 35 air-defense system is already in combat, mounted on a refurbished Leopard 1 chassis and destroying aerial targets, and the footage suggests Ukrainian crews have secretly been testing it since as early as March, months before Germany, Austria, Romania, and other European buyers even confirmed their own orders.
I break down how the system’s programmable AHEAD ammunition actually works, why Ukraine’s combat feedback matters more to Europe than any test range ever could, and what’s genuinely still unknown about whether Skyranger can survive against Russia long-term.
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Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes. Crimea is Ukraine.
- Chapters!
- 00:00 – Ukraine’s secret test: Can SkyRanger 35 survive real combat?
- 01:15 – Host introduction and first look at new combat footage
- 01:50 – First official Skyranger 35 footage reveals its niche role
- 03:21 – SkyRanger 35 fills the mid‑tier air‑defense gap
- 04:06 – March‑dated footage and financing via frozen Russian assets
- 04:58 – Leopard‑1 chassis provides armor and mobility for Skyranger 35
- 05:30 – Turret firepower and challenges of 35 mm anti‑aircraft ammo
- 06:12 – AHEAD rounds create tungsten clouds – the ‘angry bees’ concept
- 07:11 – Advanced fire‑control predicts intercept and releases programmable bursts
- 07:33 – From test range to battlefield: Russian counter‑measures against Skyranger
- 08:39 – Kill efficiency: rounds‑per‑kill metrics for Skyranger engagements
- 09:38 – Cost of AHEAD ammo and the shrinking role of gun‑based air defense
- 11:08 – Why gun systems revived and missiles may be needed beyond gun range
- 12:11 – Leopard platform performance and rising AfD influence in Germany
- 12:53 – AfD surge reshapes German debate on Ukraine support
- 14:23 – Skyranger’s survivability becomes a key political factor
- 14:57 – Crew trust and real‑world evaluation of Skyranger performance
- 16:36 – Europe awaits the report card as the war continues