Rheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...

, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products. Oerlikon Contraves was a Swiss

anti-aircraft artillery Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

manufacturer famous for its adaptation of the 1916 20 mm Becker as the Oerlikon 20 mm

autocannon An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a automatic firearm, fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary ammunition, incendiary shell (projectile), shells, ...

design, which was used in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and remains in use. Copies and derivatives of these designs were made by German, French, British, and Japanese weapon manufacturers. Oerlikon Contraves was purchased by

in 1999. , Rheinmetall Air Defence had around 1,050 employees at locations in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and Canada. The group's sales were about .

History

Oerlikon's earliest predecessor was Schweizerische Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon, founded in the Oerlikon district of

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland in 1906. In 1923 it acquired a factory in Germany. It entered the anti-aircraft defence field in 1924. In 1936, it founded a purely anti-aircraft development company called Contraves (''contra aves'' is

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "against birds", better translated as "anti-flying-objects") In 1989, the Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik

Oerlikon-Bührle ''Oerlikon-Bührle'' (full name ''Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon, Bührle & Co.'', initially ''Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon'') was a Switzerland, Swiss arms industry, armaments company based in Oerlikon (Zürich) from 1906 to 1999.Jürg Fink ...

and Contraves merged to form the Oerlikon-Contraves Group, later renamed Oerlikon Contraves Defence. Oerlikon Contraves was purchased by

, a German armament manufacturer, in 1999, and renamed Rheinmetall Air Defence AG on 1 January 2009.

Historic products

American versions of the

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...

, such as the Mk 4, Mk 10, and Mk 24, were used extensively from World War II to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. As

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

weapons used by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, they were frequently the last line of defence against

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...

attacks. Most combat ships from

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s to

PT boat A PT boat (short for patrol torpedo boat) was a motor torpedo boat used by the United States Navy in World War II. It was small, fast, and inexpensive to build, and it was valued for its maneuverability and speed. However, PT boats were hampe ...

s were equipped with Oerlikon guns. During the Vietnam War they were widely employed by

riverine A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it run ...

forces as

anti-personnel weapon An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles ga ...

s. They remained in service until the 1970s, when they were replaced by the Mk 16 20 mm cannon. Oerlikon also developed the following

surface-to-air missiles A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...

: the

RSA Missile The RSA is one of the earliest surface-to-air missiles systems, developed by the Swiss companies Oerlikon-Bührle and Contraves starting in 1947. The missile went through a rapid development process with several upgraded versions, and was the firs ...

, the

RSD 58 The RSD 58 is an early production surface-to-air missile system developed by Contraves-Oerlikon in Switzerland from 1947.David A. AndertonSwiss Build Mobile Anti-Aircraft Missile ''Aviation Week'', June 30, 1958. Test firings were made in Switzer ...

, and the

Kriens RSC Missile RSE Kriens was a Swiss-developed surface-to-air missile. It never entered service. It was named Kriens after Kriens, a village located in the canton of Lucerne. Design and development From 1959 to 1966, Contraves Rheinmetall Air Defence AG ...

. Oerlikons 20mm cannon was frequently used on Naval Ships throughout the 1920s, 30s and 40s.

Products

Rheinmetall Air Defence specialises in ground-based and naval air defence. Their products include search-and-tracking sensors, 35 mm air-defence guns, command-and-control posts, battle management and ship-based combat systems.

Medium calliber weapons

* Oerlikon KAD cannon, calibre 20×139 mm * Oerlikon KAE cannon, calibre 20×128 mm (modernised variant of KAA and KAB cannons) * Oerlikon KBA autocanon, calibre 25×137 mm Used with: Oerlikon Searanger 25, Oerlikon Fieldranger 25,

Dardo IFV The Dardo is an infantry fighting vehicle designed for the Italian Army as a replacement for the M113 APC. It is designed and built by the Iveco Fiat Oto Melara Syndicated Company based in Rome. Iveco is responsible for the hull and propulsion ...

Freccia IFV The VBM – Freccia is a family of 8x8 armoured vehicles that was designed and manufactured for the Italian Army by Iveco Defence Vehicles for the hull, the engine and the suspension, and OTO Melara for the armament. The first variant to be deve ...

, Hitfist turret, Leonardo Spallacia, ASELSAN STOP, ASELSAN NEFER * Oerlikon KCA autocanon, calibre 30×173 mm * Oerlikon KCE autocanon, calibre 30×173 mm * Oerlikon KDE autocanon, calibre 35×228 mm (used on Mitsubishi Type 89 IFV) * Oerlikon KDC autocanon, calibre 35×228 mm * Oerlikon KDG autocanon, calibre 35×228 mm

Ground-based air defence

* Radar systems ** Oerlikon Skyguard 3 ** X-TAR3D (radar) *Ground Based Air Defence Unit: **

Oerlikon GDF The Oerlikon GDF or Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves (renamed as ''Rheinmetall Air Defence AG'' following the merger with Rheinmetall in 2009). The system was originally designated 2 ZLA ...

, calibre 35×228 mm, twin cannon ** MANTIS C-RAM, calibre 35×228 mm **Oerlikon

Skyshield Skyshield air-defence system is a Modularity, modular, light weight, short range air defense (SHORAD) system developed by the Swiss corporation Oerlikon Contraves (now a subsidiary of Rheinmetall of Germany). The successor to the Oerlikon 35 m ...

, calibre 35×228 mm ***Oerlikon revolver gun Mk2 ***Oerlikon revolver gun Mk3 **Oerlikon Skynex ***SkyKnight C-RAM missile launcher unit * Mobile Air Defence: ** Oerlikon Skyranger: *** Oerlikon Skyranger 30 *** Oerlikon Skyranger 35 *** Oerlikon Skyranger Search Radar Control Node (SRCN) *** Oerlikon Skyranger Missile (Stinger oder äquivalent) *** Oerlikon Skyranger Missile (Cheetah) ** Air Defence Anti-Tank System ** Natter Counter-UAS-System ** High-energy laser C-RAM *Command systems **Oerlikon Skymaster **Oerlikon Skynex

Naval systems

*Naval Gun Systems: **Oerlikon Natter: ***Oerlikon Natter 7.62, calibre 7.62×51 mm NATO ***Oerlikon Natter 12.7, calibre 12.7×99 mm NATO **Oerlikon Searanger: ***Oerlikon Searanger 20, calibre 20×128 mm ***Oerlikon Searanger 25, calibre 25×137 mm **Oerlikon Seasnake: ***Oerlikon Seasnake 20, calibre 20×128 mm ***Oerlikon Seasnake 30, calibre 30×173 mm ** Oerlikon Millennium Naval Gun, calibre 35×228 mm *Search and Acquisition Radar: ** Oerlikon X-TAR3D/M *Radar and Electro Optical Tracking Modules: ** Oerlikon TMX/EO NT ** Oerlikon TMX/EO Mk2 **Oerlikon SeaVision **Oerlikon SeaStorm *Command and Control: ** Oerlikon Seaguard naval tracking system **

Oerlikon Weapon Control Module Oerlikon may refer to: Companies *OC Oerlikon (former ''Unaxis''), a Swiss technology conglomerate, or one of its business units: ** Oerlikon Solar ** Oerlikon Balzers ** Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum *Oerlikon-Bührle, a company in Zürich, Switzerlan ...

Weapon stations (vehicles)

* Oerlikon Fieldranger 20 * Oerlikon Fieldranger 25

Other military products

* Mosquito (missile) ATGM * LLM01 laser light module for firearms

Civilian products

Oerlikon Contraves subsidiary Oerlikon Transtec manufactured railcar and locomotive systems, including locomotive brakes, subway and electric train power conversion systems, and other subsidiary systems for mass-transit vehicles. , Rheinmetall's website no longer lists these products as part of the Air Defence group.

Corruption charges

Rheinmetall Air Defence (RAD) is one of six companies that were blacklisted by

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

in March 2012 for their involvement in a bribery scandal. The companies are accused of bribing the Director General of

Ordnance Factories Board The Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) (abbreviated: DOO(C&S)) is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. Its primary work is to management, give instructi ...

(OFB), Sudipta Ghosh. RAD and the other firms have been barred from any dealings with the OFB and all other Indian defence companies, as well as being blacklisted from participating in any Indian defence contract, for a period of 10 years. RAD has claimed that the charges against it are without merit. Rheinmetall Air Defence was implicated in a corruption case in India along with arms dealer Abhishek Verma and his wife Anca Verma lodged by anti-corruption agency of India, the CBI in 2012 for bribing defence officials for securing multi billion dollar weapons contracts of the Indian military establishment. RAD Chairman Bodo Garbe and General Manager Gerhard Hoy were issued summons of the Indian courts. Subsequently a red-corner notice was issued for their detention through

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL (abbreviated as ICPO–INTERPOL), commonly known as Interpol ( , ; stylized in allcaps), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime cont ...

. The case at present is under trial in Indian courts.

References

* Air Force Center "Fliegermuseum Dübendorf" * Hugo Schneider: ''Armament and equipment of the Swiss Army since 1817: light and medium anti-aircraft air defence anti-aircraft missiles, Volume 12 of armament and equipment of the Swiss Army since 1817'', Author Publisher Stocker-Schmidt, 1982

External links

Rheinmetall-DeTec
parent company
Official site
{{Authority control Firearm manufacturers of Switzerland Rheinmetall fi:Oerlikon