Rheinmetall has successfully demonstrated its capabilities in counter measures against small unmanned aerial systems (c-sUAS) at the Ground-based Air Defence (GBAD) Demo Days at the firing range in Lohtaja, Finland. Representatives of Rheinmetall Air Defence AG were invited to participate by the Inspector of Air Defence of the Finnish Armed Forces.
The event took place in challenging climatic conditions in a remote forest area. Threats ranged from jet drones to small quadcopters, with the main focus on the detection, classification and tracking of a wide variety of drones in different airspaces and at different flight speeds.
Rheinmetall fielded its multi-sensory early warning and reconnaissance system, Skyspotter, which is designed to protect critical infrastructure and secure large areas by detecting, classifying and tracking airborne threats. The system features an open architecture that enables the integration of different sensors and effectors depending on the threat level. It also uses individually programmable KETF ammunition (kinetic energy time fuze), which acts solely with kinetic energy (so-called impact ammunition).
In close cooperation with employees of Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles GmbH, a rapidly deployable version of the Skyspotter system based on the Rheinmetall HX Truck was present at the GBAD Demo Days.
Over the course of the event, Rheinmetall presented an integrated overall system consisting of the Skyspotter, several dislocated Passive Emitter Locator sensors and a rapidly deployable, specialised C2 shelter.
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