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Crotale/Cactus P4R Air-Defense Vehicle System

Specifications

Country of Origin/Used by:	South Africa (Cactus), France (Crotale) and others including Bahrain, Chile, Egypt, Libya, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia & United Arab Emirates (UAE).
First Produced/Service Dates:	1971 (Cactus)
Manufactured by:	Thomson-CSF (later Thales Defense & Security)
Crew:	2 or 3
Armament:	(4) R.440 Crotale Surface to Air Missiles and (2) Mistral Short-Range Air-Defence (SHORAD) Missiles (5000 Series Only)
Engine:	Gasoline or Diesel (Saudi Arabia and UAE)
Miscellaneous Info:	The Crotale ("Rattlesnake" in English) Air-Defense Vehicle System initially started out in the early 1960's as a South African project, which was ultimately fielded by them as the "Cactus". During development, the French military was also able to assess the system and decided to also procure it for their use. This system mates the Crotale R.440 Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) with the Hotchkiss P4R carrier vehicle. Two types of vehicles make up the system: the Acquisition & Control Unit (ACU) and Missile Launch Vehicle (MLV). Originally, a ratio of three (3) MLV's were linked per one (1) ACU via cables, although switched later with radio linkages. This vehicle system was built in the following series over the years, incorporating improvements along the way.  The 1000 Series was the original production model, followed by the 2000 (1973) & 3000 (1975). Both of these Series were fitted with progressively improved tracking technology.  Next came the 4000 Series (1983) which finally eliminated the cable linkages between the ACU and MLV and switched to Radio instead.  The final series was the 5000 (1985), which added two (2) Mistral SHORAD Missiles to the MLV's. In approximately 1997, this system was replaced by the Crotale NG (New Generation) Air-Defense System.
Data Sheet Available:	None Available

Photos

Reference	Source/Provider
Cactus P4R Air-Defense System Vehicle Photos	Chris Baxter (Owner of Bax Mod Models) - South Africa
Crotale P4R Air-Defense System Vehicle Photos	French Établissement de Communication et de Production Audiovisuelle de la Défense (ECPAD)
Egyptian Crotale P4R Air-Defense System Vehicle Photo	U.S. National Archives

References Available

Online

Printed

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Model Photos