It has become clear why Ukraine has not yet received the German Skyranger attack helicopters
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have not yet received the Skyranger 35 anti-aircraft systems that Germany planned to provide to combat drones. Rheinmetall had previously announced its intention to supply Ukraine with these systems, valued at hundreds of millions of euros.
Russia is intensively attacking Ukraine not only with “classic” Shahed kamikaze drones, but also with jet-powered “Geraniums” and “Banderole” drones. These drones are too fast to be intercepted by anti-drone drones, so “traditional” air defense systems are needed.
According to Defense Express, Ukraine’s air defense could be bolstered by Rheinmetall’s Skyranger 35 “Shahed-killers” mounted on Leopard 1 chassis, which have an air-target engagement range of up to 4 kilometers. The Ukrainian Armed Forces were supposed to receive them by the end of last year, but as of now, the deliveries have not taken place.
The publication notes that in October 2025, Rheinmetall announced plans to supply Ukraine with Skyranger 35 systems worth hundreds of millions of euros, funded by “frozen” Russian assets. At the same time, the number of these vehicles is not particularly large, as they cost approximately 11–13 million euros each.
As Defense Express notes, there are two possible reasons why the weapons deliveries are being delayed.
First, the Skyranger 35 “anti-aircraft tank” is manufactured by installing a special module onto the chassis of refurbished Leopard 1 tanks, so certain technical issues may have arisen during the conversion process.
The second reason may be a lack of funds.
“Russia’s ‘frozen’ assets do not exist in the form of accumulated cash or funds in bank accounts; the challenge here is literally how to convert assets into cash, and the pace of implementing this task has lagged far behind the pace of meeting Ukraine’s needs,” the article states.
At the same time, the publication urges readers not to rule out a more optimistic scenario—that the Skyranger 35s may have already been delivered to Ukraine for “test runs,” but information about this has not been made public.
As a reminder, in June, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces carried out more than 16,600 logistics and evacuation missions using ground-based robotic systems (GRS), which is 18.6% higher than the figures for May.
Russian drones are complicating supply operations for Ukrainian troops on the eastern bank of the Oskil River. However, overall, the Defense Forces’ logistics remain more efficient than those of the Russian army.
