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Crécerelle was developed by SAGEM, and is a battlefield unmanned air vehicle (UAV) for the gathering of tactical intelligence in low or medium intensity crises. Crécerelle operates within a radius of action of around 50 kilometres and has an endurance of 3 hours.

The first Crécerelle unit, with 6 lightweight remote-controlled UAVs, a ground station and a launch facility, was delivered to the French Army in May 1995, and the second in June 1996.

The Crécerelle system was deployed on operations within SFOR in Bosnia where it carried out 16 flights. The system was then used in Macedonia during the Kosovo crisis where more than 40 missions were flown. Seven flights were also carried out in the northern province of Kosovo on behalf of KFOR.

The Crécerelle system has an electronic warfare payload (jamming of enemy tactical communications). The multi-payload capability and the ability to "hand-over" between stations demonstrate the expansion in the range of missions now planned for UAVs.

Experience with the Crécerelle has also enabled improvements to be introduced to adapt it to the requirements expressed by the Netherlands (improved performance, design with UAV certification in mind). The SPERWER system currently in service with the Dutch, Swedish, Danish and more recently soon French forces offers an endurance of 5 hours, a range of 150 km and has a day/night sensor package in a gyro-stabilised ball.