Cheetah PRTL strengthens Ukraine's air defence with enhanced capabilities
Ukraine has finally received the delivery of the Cheetah PRTL air defence systems. These are similar to the highly valued Gepard air defence systems in Ukraine, which were repurchased by the USA and Germany from Jordan. Here is what they can do.
Germany delivered 52 Gepard sets to Ukraine, which were acquired in various ways, as some were literally saved from scrapping or repurchased from Qatar. Ukrainians value them highly, but unfortunately, the possibility of acquiring more of them has been exhausted (only the option of neglected pieces from Belgium in older versions remains).
The only alternative to the German units is the twin Cheetah PRTL systems produced for the Netherlands, which were sold to Jordan in 2013 for $21 million. However, thanks to the actions of the USA and Germany, they were ultimately destined for Ukraine, as the Americans agreed to repurchase 45 units from Jordan and Germany 15 units. The following recordings show the Cheetah PRTL, meaning one of the batches has been delivered.
Cheetah PRTL — the Dutch twin of the Gepard
The Dutch Cheetah PRTL was based on the German Gepard, so similarly, it is a self-propelled air defence system on a Leopard 1 tank chassis equipped with a pair of Oerlikon KDA L/R04 35/90 calibre 35 mm automatic cannons.
These offer a firing rate of 550 rounds per minute each (a total of 1100 rounds per minute), allowing for attacking targets at distances of up to 3–5 kilometres. The cannons are guided by a fire control radar located at the front of the turret with a range of 15 kilometres, providing necessary targeting data for the ballistic computer, and a second rotating radar with the same range is used for 360-degree object detection.
It is worth noting that the Dutch opted for a radar from a different manufacturer, making it distinguishable from the German version. The Cheetah PRTL also features an optical sight enabling emergency mode firing.
It is also worth noting that the Cheetah PRTL sets in CA2 and CA3 versions underwent modernization, which included upgrading the communication and fire control system. The changes aimed to reduce the time from target detection to elimination and added a sensor measuring the projectile's muzzle velocity.
The vehicles were also adapted to use FAPDS-T ammunition (rotationally stabilized armour-piercing projectile with a fragmenting core and tracer) with greater effectiveness and range (5 kilometres instead of 3 kilometres) compared to standard HEI-T (high-explosive incendiary with tracer) or SAPHEI-T (semi-armour-piercing high-explosive incendiary with tracer). This is a significant enhancement for Ukraine's short-range air defence.
