Crotale low altitude ground to air missile system data fact sheet | France French army vehicle missile systems UK | French army military equipment vehicle UK

: 11 September 2020

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Crotale low-altitude surface-to-air missile system

Description

Technical Data

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Description

The Crotale EDIR (Ecartométrie Différentielle InfraRouge, "InfraRed Differential Ecartometry") is an all-weather short-range anti-air missile, which can be used to intercept low-flight anti-ship missiles and aircraft. In 1964, South Africa placed a development contract with the French company, Thomson-Houston (later Thomson-CSF, Thomson-CSF Airsys, which then became Thales Defence Systems) for a mobile, all-weather, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system. The Electronic Systems Division of the then Thomson-CSF was the prime contractor for the complete system including the radar and electronics, and Matra was responsible for the missile. In February 1971, the French Air Force placed an order for one acquisition vehicle and two firing units which were delivered in 1972. After extensive trials with these units the French Air Force ordered the Crotale (Rattlesnake) system for airfield defense and by late 1978, 20 batteries had been delivered. In 1975, Saudi Arabia ordered a new version of the Crotale, mounted on the chassis of the Giat Industries AMX-30 MBT known as the Shahine. The Saudis also ordered the standard Crotale in late 1978 and an upgraded version in 1990 for their air force.

Variants :

Technical data

Armament

The Crotale missile system consists of two components:
- The firing unit with a J-band monopulse 17 km range single target tracking radar mounted concentrically with the launcher turret, which carries four ready to launch missiles, two each side.
- Acquisition and Co-ordination Unit (ACU). The ACU carries out target surveillance, identification and designation. Mounted on the top of the vehicle is a Thales Defence Systems Ltd E-band Mirador IV pulse-Doppler radar. The radar has a fixed-echo suppression which rotates at 60 rpm and has a maximum detection range of 18.5 km against low-level targets with speeds of between 35 and 440 m/s and altitude limits between zero and 4,500 m.

Missile

The missile is designated the R440 and weighs 84 kg, has an overall length of 2.89 m, a span of 0.54 m and a diameter of 0.15 m. The missile completes with its transport/launch container weighs 100 kg. The HE high-energy focused fragmentation warhead in the center of the missile weighs 15 kg. The warhead has a lethal radius of 8 m for the 2,300 m/s velocity fragments and is activated in the original R440 missiles by either the infra-red proximity fuse (the fuse is commanded to activate 350 m before interception) or back-up contact fuse. The missile has an SNPE Lens III rocket motor with 25.45 kg of solid propellant powder. The missile reaches a maximum speed of 750 m/s in 2.8 seconds.

Vehicle

Crotale is normally mounted on a P4R (4 × 4) vehicle and can also be shelter-mounted for use in static defense (see Shelter-and container-based surface-to-air missile systems section). Radar and launcher vehicles have an all-welded steel hull with the driver at the front, electronics and operators in the center and the thermal motor at the rear. There is a door in the right side of the hull, which opens to the rear. The thermal motor provides energy. An alternator, driven by the thermal motor, produces power, the output of which is rectified and then fed to a series of DC motors which in turn drive each of the four road wheels by epicyclical reduction gears. Sufficient electric power is provided for all the vehicle's electrical systems including the electronics, air conditioning system and the hydraulic circuit, which operates the three leveling jacks, steering, suspension and brakes. Each road wheel station has a hydraulic and pneumatic suspension system designed by Messier. This acts as a pneumatic spring, suspension spring and shock absorber simultaneously. A selector valve connected to the differential gear controls the position of each jack and the driver has a lever, which enables him to select one of five positions.

Combat use

A typical platoon consists of one Acquisition and Co-ordination Unit (ACU) and two to three firing units, with a battery having two platoons. All the operators have one ACU vehicle to two firing units with the exception of Libya and Bahrain, which have one ACU vehicle to three firing units. The system cannot operate on the move but takes less than 5 minutes to become operational once it has stopped. Once the target has been detected the missile can be launched within about 6.5 seconds. The system has been designed to combat targets flying at a speed of M1.2 at an altitude of 50 to 3,000 m and an equivalent radar area of 1 m2 fluctuating. Data are transmitted from the Crotale 4000 ACU to the Crotale 4000 firing units via a cable that allows operations up to 800 m away or via a radio link.

Specifications

Armament

Four R440 missile

Country users

Bahrain, Egypt, France, Libya, Pakistan, Saudia Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates

Crew

2 for each vehicle

Warhead

15 kg HE fragmentation with contact and proximity fuzing

Missile

Effective range: 500 - 10,000 m
Effective altitude: 15 - 5,500 m
Guidance: Command control
Reload time: 2 min (full 4-round load)

Armor