Variants
There are two variants of Gepard in service; the Dutch has a different radar installation.
Germany
- Search radar: S band, 15 km range
- Tracking radar: Ku band, 15 km range
- Laser rangefinder
Netherlands
- Search radar: X band, 15 km range
- Tracking radar: X/Ka band, 13 km range
The Dutch version was officially called the PRTL (PantserRupsTegenLuchtdoelen or "Armoured Tracked Anti-Aircraft"), pronounced as "pruttle" by the soldiers. The Dutch series version was made public through a photograph of a vehicle from a C-Company, the first to be equipped with the new weapon. Traditionally all Dutch vehicles in a company have names beginning with the company designation letter and this vehicle happened to have the individual name Cheetah painted in bold type on its turret. Inevitably the international press assumed "Cheetah" was the Dutch name for their Gepard version and this mistake found its way into most armour publications on the subject. In 2000 the Dutch military authorities, tired of constantly having to explain all this and considering "pruttle" was hardly a martial name anyway, conformed themselves to common error and made "Cheetah" the official designation, when the system was upgraded.
Read more about this topic: Flakpanzer Gepard
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