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As Ukraine is routinely attacked by Russian-sent kamikaze drones and cruise missiles, air defense is more important than ever. And thanks to Ukraine’s international partners, it does have some significant air defense capabilities.
One of the more interesting weapons Ukraine is using is the French short-range surface-to-air missile system Crotale, which has many advantages over some other modern air defenses.
Crotale is a short-range surface-to-air missile system, designed in the late 1960’s. Image credit: David Monniaux via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The tragic problem. Ukraine is constantly being attacked by swarms of drones and cruise missiles. Russia is trying to disrupt energy networks in Ukraine in a desperate attempt to sway the minds of the population against its own government. Russia believes that once Ukrainians are cold and tired from living in the dark, they will accept the defeat and losses of five major territories (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, and Crimea) and demand that the leaders of the country do the same.
Russia is using a variety of drones and cruise missiles against Ukraine. The problem is that many of these weapons, particularly small Iranian drones Shahed, are very small and difficult to shoot down using conventional air defense systems.
Ukraine does manage to take down the majority of the Russian missiles and drones, but only thanks to its diverse multi-layered air defense system, which continues to grow stronger.
The modern solution. One of the systems used by Ukraine is the French Crotale (this name means “Rattlesnake”). Ukraine is using at least two batteries of Crotale.
Back in October it was announced that Ukraine may get 3-4 of such batteries, which makes the current situation a bit more ambiguous. It is said that Crotale is very effective against all sorts of targets, including drones, cruise missiles, and anti-ship missiles (previously, the Crotale system has been installed on various military ships). Crotale can be launched from a ship, a stationary installation, or a mobile platform. It’s incredibly versatile.
France has already supplied Mistral air defense systems to Ukraine, but the Crotale, produced by Thales and armed by MBDA, is much more sophisticated than the Mistral. The Crotale was developed in the early 1970’s, but has been improved since then.
The latest version has a range of around 11 km and a flight ceiling of 6,000 meters. The included radar of the system can spot the targets 20 km away, but the Crotale can accept data from other sources as well.
It’s incredibly effective against smaller targets due to its TV link, which works up to 15 km and has conventional and IR cameras. In other words, it can spot small targets as well. And then, once it’s close enough, Crotale explodes creating a cloud of shrapnel with an 8 meter kill-zone.
France continues to be one of the largest military supporters of Ukraine. Surface-to-air missiles are absolutely crucial this winter, because Russia is trying to create a desperate humanitarian situation in Ukraine. At the moment those efforts are futile, but Ukraine needs arms to defend itself.
Sources: Wikipedia, Bfmtv.com.
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