During the G7 Summit that was held on October 11, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested European countries to deliver more air defense systems after the recent Russian missile attacks against Ukrainian cities. He asked France and Italy to deliver SAMP/T, an air defense missile system produced by the company Eurosam, a joint venture between the companies MBDA and Thales.
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Launcher unit and command post of French SAMP/T air defense missile system. (Picture source Army Recognition)
Since the beginning of the week, the Russian armed forces have launched numerous attacks against major cities in Ukraine using cruise missiles. To counter these attacks and protect the Ukrainian citizens, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the European leaders to provide more modern and effective air defense systems including the SAMP/T air defense missile systems in service with the French and Italian armies.
The SAMP/T is a mobile air defense missile system that is designed to protect sensitive sites and to counter aerial threats such as tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and anti-radiation missiles as well as aircraft. The air defense system is in service with France, Italy, and Singapore.
A SAMP/T battery includes one fire control unit based on the ARABEL multi-function electronic scanning radar, Vertical Ground Launcher truck units, mounted on Italian Astra/Iveco and French Renault-KERAX 8x8 trucks, engagement module including Mara computer and Magics operator consoles mounted on Kerax truck, a power generator module mounted on Kerax truck, maintenance and repair Kerax truck and missile reloader vehicle.
The launcher vehicle of the SAMP/T air defense system is based on an 8x8 military truck fitted with eight ready-to-fire missile container launchers able to launch ASTER-30 missiles. The missile uses inertial mid-course guidance, with guidance correction update data being transmitted from the ground-based fire control center via the Arabel multifunction radar's uplink data channel. The maximum speed of Aster 30 missiles is 1.4km/sec. Aster 30 has the capability to intercept targets at altitudes from 50 m to 20 km. against aircraft targets flying at altitudes above 3 km, the maximum range of the Aster 30 is 100 km. At aircraft targets with altitudes below 3 km, the range of Aster 30 is 50 km.
