France and Italy order upgraded SAMP/T air-defense systems

Rome: France and Italy ordered the next generation of the SAMP/T air-defense system as they seek better protection against threats including hypersonic missiles, with French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu touting the “fully European” nature of the system.

Lecornu announced an order for eight SAMP/T NG systems, with the first ones to enter the armed forces in 2026, while Italy ordered ten systems, the country’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said on Tuesday. Neither country provided a value for the order, though France included a spending authorization of €674 million (US$750 million) for the purchase in its 2024 military budget.

The French are still smarting from Germany proposing Diehl Defence’s IRIS-T and the U.S.-made Patriot as the backbone of the European Sky Shield Initiative, rather than the SAMP/T developed by Thales and missile maker MBDA. The next-generation upgrade gives the French-Italian system an intercept range of more than 150 kilometers (93 miles), similar to the range reported for RTX’s Patriot, and improved capability to intercept hypersonic missiles.

“This fully European system is capable of dealing with more significant threats, in particular short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, including hypersonic,” the French Armed Forces Ministry said. “European air defense is central to the security of all Europeans.”

French President Emmanuel Macron last year warned against European countries rushing to buy air-defense capabilities in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that purchasing off-the-shelf would mean buying a lot of equipment from outside the continent.

Lecornu and Crosetto attended a conference on European air and missile defense organized by Italy in Rome, after a similar meeting in Paris last year, and the French minister called for continuation of the effort ‘to deploy sovereign and innovative European technologies” with a third conference.

“We have ordered ten SAMP/T new-generation systems and we are improving the Aster missile,” Crosetto said on Tuesday. “Like the French we are focusing on national security.”

Italy earlier this year already signed a contract for four of the systems with Europe’s Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, with main contractor Eurosam saying the system would be delivered from 2025. OCCAR last year signed for the purchase of five SAMP/T NG systems for the Italian Air Force, with a value of about €700 million.

Italy confirmed in June it would send a second SAMP/T air defense battery to Ukraine in response to urgent appeals by Kyiv to help defeat Russian missile attacks. The battery due to be sent was one of five operated by Italy. At the time, Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Italy would not allow Ukraine to use Italian weaponry to strike targets inside Russia.

Italy and France jointly supplied a first battery to Ukraine last year that has been defending the Kyiv area. SAMP/T is a truck-based tactical antimissile system designed to destroy cruise missiles, manned and unmanned aircraft and tactical ballistic missiles.

A complete SAMP/T NG system includes a radar providing 360-degree coverage with a range of more than 350 kilometers, a command-and-control module, and as many as six launchers, each fitted with eight Aster 30 missiles, with a battery typically requiring 20 crew members, according to the manufacturers. Each launcher can fire its eight missiles in about 10 seconds.

Discussing Italy’s new SAMP/T order, Crosetto said on Tuesday that European democracies were struggling to procure and produce weapons in a hurry.

“This is only the start and we are already late because we are not ready to face today’s challenge,” he said, adding, “We are slow because we live in a world of democracies that will always lose out to dictatorships.”