Oerlikon Contraves

Specialist in Air Defence

 
With customers around the globe and subsidiaries in Germany, Italy, Canada and East Asia, Oerlikon Contraves AG is Rheinmetall's Air Defence arm. This Swiss company has had close ties with the German Bundeswehr ever since 1955. Among other items of equipment, Oerlikon was quick to offer the young Bundeswehr a 2 cm cannon.

For decades, Rheinmetall and Oerlikon-Bührle were competitors in the global market for 2 cm weapons, a rivalry which intensified when Oerlikon acquired technical know-how from Hispano Suiza in the 1970s. Over the years, the Bundeswehr turned to Oerlikon for the Superfledermaus ("super bat") fire control unit, the twin 35 mm antiaircraft guns of the Flakpanzer Gepard ("cheetah") and the Fera fire control unit for rocket artillery systems.

Moreover, there are numerous examples of Oerlikon working together with German defence contractors which now form part of the Rheinmetall Group, including Mauser-Werke Oberndorf, KUKA (in the Arrow air defence system project), and Rheinmetall Waffe Munition, with which it cooperated in the Corect project, a module for correcting the trajectory of artillery rockets.
 

The Skyguard fire unit consists of two 35 mm Ahead twin guns and a fire control system; a guided missile launcher can be integrated as an option.

 
Originally known as "Studiengesellschaft für artilleristische Flugabwehr", Contraves AG was set up in 1936 to produce instruments for measuring artillery trajectories, as well as training equipment. In 1944, Oerlikon-Bührle took up a majority stake in Contraves, thus acquiring its electronic fire control systems division. In 1989, the defence technology units of Oerlikon-Bührle were merged with Contraves AG to form the new company Oerlikon Contraves AG.

Rheinmetall took over Oerlikon Contraves AG in 1999 in order to bolster its position in the medium-calibre market, at the same time taking a further important step in the long-overdue consolidation of the European defence industry.

Technical cooperation between Oerlikon Contraves and the experts at Oberndorf (now part of RWM) has resulted in a world-class centre of excellence in the field of medium-calibre weaponry and ammunition.

Among the most important air defence systems offered by Oerlikon Contraves are the Skyguard, Skyshield and the multi-mission system Skyranger. The latest version of the Skyguard fire control unit is equipped with two independently operating 3D target-tracking systems. The Skyshield fire unit consists of two single-barrel revolver guns and a fire control unit with highly sensitive 3D search radar, tracking radar and an optronic sensor system.

Brand new on the market is the versatile Skyranger. Developed specifically for protecting convoys during international peace-enforcement missions, etc., it can be used against air and ground targets alike.

Other Oerlikon Contraves products currently under development or already in production are the Millennium 35 mm Ahead naval gun (equipped with the 35/1000 revolver cannon); the Corect trajectory correction module for artillery rockets, and Ahead ammunition technology, developed in cooperation with RWM Schweiz AG – to name just a few.