France Delivers ASTER 30 SAMP/T, Air Defense Systems to Ukraine
After supplying the Crotale NG (Next Generation) air defense system to Ukraine last year.
France is now announcing further assistance in the aspect of air defense weapons to Ukraine.
Namely the SAMP/T medium-range anti-aircraft missile system which has been supplied to Ukraine.
This was conveyed by French President Emanuel Macron on June 19, 2023.
"I am pleased to report to my Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni that the Franco-Italian SAMP/T has now been deployed and operational in Ukraine, where the system will protect key installations," Macron said in a speech in Paris during a unifying air defense conference.
European Union defense ministers, US and NATO military officials, and industry executives, quoted from defense-blog.com (20/6/2023)
SAMP/T (sol-air moyenne portée terrestre or surface to air medium range/land) also known as MAMBA, is an anti-aircraft missile system designed to counter attack by Russian drones, missiles and aircraft.
With this system, the radar and launchers are armed with eight Aster 30 missiles with a range of about 100 km.
SAMP/T is a 21st century Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) system designed by MBDA to protect sensitive sites and deploy troops against missile (TBM, stand-off, cruise missile, ARM) and aircraft threats, replacing all existing medium-range ground-to-air systems.
MBDA said the SAMP/T system was developed to meet medium and long range air defense needs (force projection, high value area protection, and area protection).
SAMP/T can operate in stand-alone mode or can be integrated in a coordinated network.
The SAMP/T system is part of NATO's integrated air and missile defense.
From the specifications, the Aster 30 with a weight of 450 kg is able to reach the target of 100 km.
Even with the upgrades made by France and Italy, the Aster 30 Block I can neutralize ballistic missile attacks launched from a launch point of 1,000 km.
Cruise missiles launched from a distance of 600 km are said to be intercepted after entering a range of 100 km.
In general, the Aster 30 can accelerate up to 1.4 km per second.
The maximum reachable target height is 20 km and the lowest is 50 meters.
In one Aster 30 SAMP/T battery, it consists of a command and control vehicle, an Arabel radar, and six launcher units, aka transporter erector launcher (TEL) vehicles.
Each TEL unit consists of eight reloadable Aster 30 missiles.
Each launcher unit (TEL) to the Arabel radar can be set up to a connection distance of 10 km.
Arabel is a type of 3D phased array radar for surveillance, tracking and missile guidance roles.
Arabel operates in the 8 to 13 Ghz X band (I/J band) with the ability to detect 100 targets simultaneously from a distance of 100 km.
From the target data information obtained by the Arabel radar, an uplink update of target data transmission can be carried out to 16 Aster 30 missiles simultaneously.
And of course, the Arabel radar system supports ECCM (Electronic Counter-Countermeasures).