Rheinmetall (Rheinmetall Air Defence) Oerlikon Skymaster

The Oerlikon Skymaster from Rheinmetall (Rheinmetall Air Defence, Germany) is an air-defence command and fire-control system. It brings several sensors and effectors together into one air picture and automatically assigns connected effectors to targets. It is the core of Skynex and of Rheinmetall's C-sUAS shelters; a Rheinmetall C-sUAS solution was evaluated in Austria in 2022. The system runs stationary or in a shelter.

The Skymaster has no sensors or ranges of its own; detection and effect come from the connected devices. Its specifications therefore describe functions: fusion of sensor data into a common picture and automatic assignment of effectors to targets. Performance depends on which radars, cameras and effectors are connected and how many targets can be tracked at the same time; integration into control rooms also counts.

A command system does not act itself but helps decide which effector is used against which target; the rules of the connected effectors therefore apply. Operating jammers is reserved to authorities: in Germany under § 91 TKG, in Poland under Art. 42 of the Electronic Communications Law (Dz.U. 2024 item 1221). Active countermeasures are reserved to state bodies (Poland: Art. 156ze of the Aviation Law, Dz.U. 2025 item 179; Germany: federal and state police, armed forces under § 15a LuftSiG as administrative assistance). For operators of critical infrastructure, airports and event organisers, detection alone remains; radio detection, however, touches the secrecy of telecommunications (Fernmeldegeheimnis), which counts as an open legal question.

For command systems, the interfaces to the connected sensors and effectors, software upkeep, time synchronisation, redundancy of computers and data paths, access protection and logging of assignments count. In a shelter, power supply, climate control and operator stations come on top.