The technical agreement between Italy and France to supply Ukraine with the Samp-T air defense system against Russian missile attacks is in the pipeline. This is confirmed by diplomatic sources. In the next few hours, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto will meet his transalpine counterpart Sebastien Lecornu and the definition of the details of the agreement should also be discussed during the summit.
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Diplomacy
“A political decision has been made. Now the technical details are only being defined because it is a complicated system,” said a French diplomatic source, adding that the expectation is that French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will make the decision official.
The system
Developed starting from the early 2000s as part of the Italian-French FSAF (Family of Surface-to-Air Systems) program, the SAMP/T surface-to-air missile system, according to the website of the Ministry of Defence, was born from the need to have a medium-range missile system suitable for operating in new operational scenarios, primarily characterized by driving factors such as reduced reaction times against airborne threats, high mobility and the possibility of adapting the device according to times commensurate with the dynamism of the manoeuvre. The current version of the SAMP/T has state-of-the-art capabilities in countering airborne threats and short-range tactical ballistic missiles. Italy has 5 batteries which, since the system entered service in 2013, have been used in many operational and training activities.
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The Jubilee
In particular, between 2015 and 2016 a SAMP/T unit was deployed in Rome for surveillance of the capital’s skies on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy; at the same time a second battery operated in Turkey as part of the NATO “Active Fence” operation from June 2016 to December 2019, guaranteeing 24-hour surveillance of the city of Kahramanmaras, on the south-eastern border of the Atlantic Alliance, against tactical ballistic missiles originating from Syrian territory. Every year the SAMP/T batteries took part in the main Defense exercise event, the Joint Stars at the Salto di Quirra Interforce Range in Sardinia, where they demonstrated full interoperability with national air defense systems even in the presence of Electronic Warfare. Furthermore, the SAMP/T has been included in the NATO Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) programme; program created with the aim of achieving the defense of areas or vital objectives of interest of the Alliance from the missile threat. Finally, the deployment of a SAMP/T battery in Kuwait as part of Operation Inherent Resolve was recently approved. The Engagement Form is the element where tactical control of the system is exercised. The Command Module constitutes the element where mission planning, supervision of the ongoing mission and coordination of logistic support are exercised. The ARABEL 90 Multifunction Radar performs target discovery, acquisition, identification and tracking. Generating Set Module is used to power the radar; it is characterized by the presence of a double generator set in order to ensure continuity of operation.
The details
The Terrestrial Launcher Module is equipped with 8 ASTER30 missiles, a vertical launch missile with active seeker terminal guidance. The Land Reload Module used to carry out the loading and unloading operations of the missile cells on the launcher.