Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron made another statement about military support for Ukraine. The President stressed that the aid package will include Caesar self-propelled guns, radars and air defense systems. “We will continue to support the Ukrainian resistance and will increase our military assistance,” Emmanuel Macron wrote on his Twitter.
Information appeared in the French media with a specific list of weapons – military analysts believe that the transfer of Crotale systems is the most effective. France has previously transferred Mistral MANPADS, but Crotale is a more advanced system that can solve the current problem of countering Iranian drones. Crotale is equipped with a radar and is capable of hitting air targets at extremely low altitudes (from 5 km to 15 meters).
In the context of the necessary protection of critical infrastructure, Crotale will be more useful than ever, and according to the words of the head of France, the complexes will be transferred in a few weeks. French Defense Minister Sebastian Lecornu notes that Ukraine needs about two months to train the Ukrainian military and start using anti-aircraft missile systems.
France also contributes to the training of military personnel, because it joins the common European program and will take up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers for training. Considering that earlier the French quickly transferred the Caesar self-propelled guns, we hope that the Crotale air defense system will arrive as soon as possible.
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No official information was provided on the number of complexes. According to Military Balance data for 2021, France owned 24 Crotale NG units, and according to the head of the French Ministry of Defense, then 12. Information is spreading in the French media about the transfer of 3-4 Crotale units. Previously, those complexes that will be transferred to Ukraine will be replaced by more long-range air defense Mamba.
The Mamba is currently used to protect the NATO air base in Romania and is in service with a limited number of countries. During the G7 summit, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky also approached the governments of France and Italy to supply these systems to Ukraine.
By collecting weapons from different countries, we can gradually improve our air defense. Ukraine has already received American NASAMS systems, German Iris-Ts and Spanish Hawks. According to the characteristics, Crotale are quite similar to the listed complexes. The name of the complex from French literally translates as “rattlesnake”, and the Thales company is engaged in production. The first commissioning took place in the 70s, and later the complex underwent a number of important upgrades.
The first orders for the complex came from the Armed Forces of South Africa, where it was called the Cactus air defense system. In 1972, the complex was adopted by the French forces, where it was better known as Crotale. The new generation version has the prefix NG in its name, about 15 countries are air defense systems operators, among which, in addition to France, there are also Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal and others. In South Korea, this system is better known as KM-SAM Chunma or Pegasus, and in Finland as ITO 90.
Crotale was created as a short-range complex, it is the most effective in the destruction of missiles, UAVs, helicopters. It is used both for air defense of strategic facilities (infrastructure, control centers, missile launch sites), and for protecting troops from air strikes. It is important that Crotale will cope with air targets operating at low altitude, and the use of the complex is possible from a moving chassis and even from ships.
Crotale can be used by the armed forces of Ukraine both for fighting at the front and for protecting infrastructure facilities in the rear. The system works with missiles with a range of up to 10 km and a height of damage up to 6 km.
As noted by the Minister of Defense of France, the complex is equipped with radars – surveillance (detection range 20 km), target tracking and optoelectronic target detection system. Thanks to this, the complex quickly works, as well as intercepts targets at speeds up to 1800 km / h. It takes only 5 minutes to deploy, it cannot act on the move, therefore it requires a stop. The crew consists of three people. Due to the fact that the target tracking systems are in one place, the complex is stable and accurate in operation.
Crotale is capable of destroying up to 4 units at the same time, it is armed with 8 VT-1 missiles, which have a speed of up to Mach 3.5 (1247 m / s). The high-explosive fragmentation warhead of directional action has a striking radius of 8 m. A special vehicle is used to reload the complex, because the launch chassis does not provide space for spare ammunition. To recharge the complex, a light crane is used, the process takes about two minutes.
Specifications SAM Crotale
| firing range | 500-10,000 m |
| Defeat Height | up to 6000 m |
| Number of launcher missiles | 8 pcs. |
| Maximum target speed to hit | 500 m/s |
| Launch weight of the rocket | 73 kg |
| Rocket length | 2290 mm |
Over its 40 years of production, the Crotale complex has demonstrated its effectiveness and steadily maintains its position, because it adapts to new challenges. In Ukraine, Crotale can help defend against Iranian drones that have done a lot of damage to critical infrastructure in recent weeks.
Due to the ability to work in all weather conditions, the Crotale complex is ideal for use in winter. And Iranian-made drones, on the contrary, for the most part are not adapted to work in our latitudes.
Video about the system’s capabilities:
