Video: Ukraine receives the Crotale air defense system in a trailer version

The Crotale air defense systems from France that were transferred to Ukraine came in a trailer version.

The press service of the 38th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment published the video of the demonstration.

The transferred systems are made in the NG configuration, providing improved radar equipment and an increased number of missiles – up to eight units.

The system is mounted on a trailer, where, in addition to the launchers and the radar system, there is a control room that manages the system.

In total, France provided Ukraine with two batteries of these systems as part of its military aid, which complemented the overall assistance of Western partners in supplying Ukraine with air defense equipment.

This version of the Crotale was developed in France to provide airfield defense. They replaced the first-generation systems based on Hotchkiss P-4 R self-propelled chassis.

Militarnyi previously published a video of the French Crotale system, but it was impossible to confirm for sure that Ukraine received the systems in a trailer version.

Crotale NG

The Crotale NG electrically powered turret weighs about 4,800 kg. It includes a surveillance radar with an intruder-following-follower (IFF) subsystem, a tracking radar, and electro-optical equipment containing a day-and-night thermal imaging camera (FLIR), a daytime television camera, a video tracking system, and an infrared detection system.

The armament consists of eight ready-to-launch missiles arranged in two blocks of four container launchers.

The standard surveillance radar is the 2630 model from Thales Defence Systems Ltd, which operates in the S-band with flexible frequency tuning, pulse compression, and Doppler technology.

It is equipped with a flat antenna rotating at 40 rpm and electronic counter-countermeasures (ECCM), including strobe-on-jam mode.

The radar operates in the Ku-band and has a maximum range of up to 30,000 meters, providing detection and tracking of targets ranging from hovering helicopters to aircraft with speeds above M2. The beam width is 1.2°.

The VT-1 rocket itself has a launch weight of 75 kg (95 kg with the container launcher), a length of 2.29 m, and a diameter of 0.165 m. Four steel folding wings are deployed after launch for stabilization.

The missile is equipped with a 13-kilogram high-explosive warhead manufactured by TDA, which uses a Thomson-CSF FPNG (Fusée de Proximity Nouvelle Génération) active radar fuze with pseudo-random pulse-modulated broadband electromagnetic detonation in the I/D band.

The missile’s onboard processor activates the fuze, which calculates the detonation time between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds to the intended interception point. The kill radius of the warhead is 8 meters.

The missile has a maximum range of 11,000 meters, a minimum range of about 500 meters, and an intercept altitude range from ultra-low altitude to over 6,000 meters.

The maximum speed of the missile is Mach 3.5, which is achieved through the use of an improved TX883 solid-fuel rocket engine with reduced smoke, developed on the basis of the one used by the Sidewinder air-to-air missile.