I Used to Work On This

When I was at Lockheed in Grand Prairie, I worked on VT-1. the missile in the what was then called the Crotale NG (it’s apparrently now called the Crotale III).

Thales Unveils New-Generation Surface Radar (Subscription Required)

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•A longer range version of the Crotale very-short-range missile system. Designated the Mk. 3, the system will have a range of 15 km. and 9,000 meters altitude—a 50% increase over the existing missile. Combined with Shikra in a ground-based air defense network, the Mk. 3 can detect targets at a range of 108 km., including UAVs and cruise missiles 30-40 km. away—twice the performance of competing radars—Thales engineers say. Its VT1 hypervelocity missile will enable the Mk. 3 to reach targets at 15-km. maximum range within 30 sec.—up to half the time needed for weapons like the Amraam, MICA or Derby converted from air-launched weapons, they say.


The Crotale Mk. 3 will afford a 50% improvement in range and ceiling compared with existing versions of the very-short-range air defense system.

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Yep….that’s VT-1. I recognize my old friend.

FWIW, I started work on VT1 in 1996, regarding some issues of contention between the prime contractor (then Thomson CSF, now Thales) and Loral Vought (Became Lockheed Martin Vought Systems, then Lockheed Martin Missiles and fire control).

I would have figured that it would have been finished well before this.

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