This caused a gap to appear which would leave them vulnerable as air threats returned in the early 21st century, as demonstrated during conflicts such as the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

To address this, Rheinmetall Air Defence developed the Skyranger 30 concept demonstrator and publicly displayed it in March 2021.

[1] Starting in 2018, Rheinmetall Air Defence's product management department, under the leadership of Michael Gerber and Moritz Vischer, conceptually designed the Skyranger 30.

Besides being a concept demonstrator, the Skyranger 30 A0 turret was also successfully used as a platform to combine and showcase Rheinmetall's full range of capabilities and products (e.g.

Due to the Corona lockdown, a live feed internet unboxing event was conducted on December 16 2020 to unveil the concept and turret.

In December 2023, the Skyranger 30A1 development testbed was tested in live-fire exercises at the Ochsenboden proving ground in stationary and mobile modes.

[1] In late 2021, Rheinmetall unveiled the Skyranger 30 high-energy laser (HEL), intended to increase the system's ability to neutralize small targets at greater range and lower cost.