Skynex 35 (Astra 88.45 BAD)

Il_Signor_Regio · June 2, 2026, 10:15pm

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On June 2, 2026, during the annual parade in Rome to celebrate the anniversary of the Italian Republic, alongside various well-known machines like the Lince VTLM2 and the VM90, a peculiar new vehicle, sporting the result of one of the latest successful military contracts concluded by the Italian army not so long ago, made its first appearance. The vehicle in question is an 8x8 Astra 88.45 BAD, a very well-known and widespread platform, with a new turret on the back, an Oerlikon Skynex 35, a specialized anti-drone gun, which saw a remarkable amount of sales in the latest period due to the rising need for anti-drone and new anti-air defense systems. Developed from the already existing Skyshield, the Skynex is a state-of-the-art point defense system deployed in batteries, which are made of an X-TAR3D detection and acquisition radar, a command post, and four Oerlikon Revolver MK3 35 mm guns, able to engage a large selection of air targets (drones, missiles, munitions, aircraft, helicopters, etc.), which can be either static on the ground or used on trucks, like the unit at the parade. The story of the Skynex in Italy is actually pretty long, as Rheinmetall chose its Italian subsidiary, Rheinmetall Italia, as one of the main sites for the production of this system; thus, the plant in Rome has been producing Skynexs for a while, delivering various batteries to various foreign customers, like Ukraine. The Italian Army realized the severe lack of dedicated anti-drone weapons after the start of the war in Ukraine, and to rectify this situation, a total of 4 batteries were added to the DPP 2024-2025, the annual document where the Italian Army describes all the expenses related to future and ongoing projects. Not so long after, on January 7, 2025, a contract with Rheinmetall Italia was signed, and nearly one year after the deal, the delivery of the first elements of the first battery occurred on December 18, 2025. The current status of the deliveries is unknown to the public, as no further info on the matter were published by any official sources.

Specifications

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On the truck

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