Ukraine boosts air defense with cheetah PRTL systems from Jordan
2:54 PM EDT, August 4, 2024
Ukraine has finally received a delivery of the Cheetah PRTL air defense systems. These are counterparts to the highly valued Gepard air defense systems in Ukraine, which the USA and Germany repurchased from Jordan. Here's what they can do.
Germany delivered 52 Gepard systems to Ukraine, acquired through various means, including some units that were literally saved from being scrapped or repurchased from Qatar. Ukrainians highly value these systems, but the possibility of acquiring more has been exhausted. Only the option of older, neglected units from Belgium remains.
The only alternative to the German units is the Cheetah PRTL systems produced for the Netherlands and sold to Jordan in 2013 for $21 million. Thanks to the efforts of the USA and Germany, these systems were ultimately designated for Ukraine. The Americans agreed to repurchase 45 units from Jordan and Germany 15 units. The following recordings show the Cheetah PRTL, indicating that one of the batches has been delivered.
Cheetah PRTL — The Dutch twin of the Gepard
The Dutch Cheetah PRTL is based on the German Gepard. Similarly, it is a self-propelled air defense system mounted on a Leopard 1 tank chassis and equipped with a pair of Oerlikon KDA L/R04 35/90 caliber 35 mm automatic cannons.
These cannons offer a firing rate of 550 rounds per minute each (a total of 1,100 rounds per minute), allowing them to attack targets up to 2-3 miles away. The cannons are guided by a fire control radar located at the front of the turret with a range of 9 miles, providing necessary targeting data for the ballistic computer. 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. Additionally, the Cheetah PRTL features an optical sight for emergency mode firing.
It is also notable that the Cheetah PRTL systems in CA2 and CA3 versions underwent modernization, which included upgrades to the communication and fire control systems. These changes aimed to reduce the time from target detection to its elimination and added a sensor to measure the projectile's muzzle velocity.
The vehicles were also modified to use FAPDS-T ammunition (rotationally stabilized armor-piercing projectiles with a fragmenting core and tracer), which offers greater effectiveness and range (3 miles instead of 2 miles) compared to standard HEI-T (high-explosive incendiary with tracer) or SAPHEI-T (semi-armor-piercing high-explosive incendiary with tracer). This is a significant enhancement for Ukraine's short-range air defense capabilities.
