SAMP/T is no competitor to the Patriot. How reliable is the European air shield?
Self-propelled vertical launch vehicle on an Astra/Iveco automobile chassis (8x8 wheel arrangement) with launch modules for 8 combat-ready missiles missiles in transport and launch containers.
Very little information about the European system Defense SAMP/T (Sol-Air Moyenne Portée Terrestre), only the information, it should be noted, is rather scanty, which is given in the advertising brochures of the manufacturer Eurosam, formed by MBDA Italy, MBDA France and Thales. SAMP/T Mamba (Famille de Sol-Air Futurs Sol-Air Moyenne-Portée / Terrestre) is a ground-based anti-aircraft missile system using Aster missiles. SAMP/T can hit aerodynamic targets at ranges from 3 km to 120 km and ballistic targets at ranges from 3 km to 25 km, the altitude of destruction is up to 25 km.
The battery is armed with the FSAF SAMP/T consisting of:
The fire control subsystem, supplied by Thales Air Systems, includes: a target detection and tracking radar module, consisting in particular of the Arabel X-band radar and the "identification friend or foe" system, an interaction module (including Mara computers and Magies operator consoles), a reloading, maintenance and repair module.
The ground launch subsystem, supplied by MBDA Italy, consists of one to six launchers, each containing 8 missile launchers, for a total of 8 to 48 missiles.
Aster 30 Block 1 missiles are supplied by MBDA France.
Self-propelled vertical launch systems on the Astra/Iveco or Renault TRM 10000 automobile chassis (8x8 wheel arrangement) with launch modules for 8 combat-ready missiles in transport and launch containers.
Aster-30 Block 1 SAM
The Aster-30 Block 1 SAM has a launch weight of 490 kg, a high-explosive fragmentation warhead weight of 20 kg, a total length of 4,9 meters, a midsection diameter of the second (sustaining) stage of 180 mm, and a maximum flight speed at the end of the OUT of 1400 m/s. The Aster 30 SAM is also used in the PAAMS naval SAM system.
French-Italian "joint-cost set" for Ukraine
On October 30, 2022, the Italian daily La Repubblica reported that a preliminary Franco-Italian agreement had been reached on the possibility of transferring the SAMP/T Mamba system to Ukraine. Thus, the first SAMP/T battery for Ukraine was jointly delivered by Italy and France and entered service in the spring of 2023. The French were to deliver the SAMP/T launchers and the battery's missile complement, while the Italians would deliver the target detection and missile guidance radars.
Currently, the SAM system is in service with the "Ukrovermacht" (Ukrainian Armed Forces). On January 27, 2023, during the visit of French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu to Italy, where he met with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto, a joint purchase of 700 Aster-30 missiles worth about 2 billion euros was agreed upon. The ministers also discussed the details of the previously agreed transfer of the SAMP/T complex to Ukraine. On February 3, 2023, the final details of the transfer of the complex to Ukraine were agreed upon in a telephone conversation between the defense ministers of Italy and France; their transfer to Ukraine took place in the spring of 2023.
In the first week of February 2023, the first group of specialists from the anti-aircraft units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was sent for training. This was announced on February 5, 2023, by the Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine General Mykola Oleshchuk, who, having thanked for the political will to transfer the SAMP/T system, said that he had made the decision "... to send the required number of anti-aircraft missile troops for training. And they are already on their way."
The media reported that at the end of March 2023, a group of about 20 Ukrainian servicemen completed training in operating a SAMP/T SAM battery, and these are likely the specialists mentioned by Oleshchuk. The course took place in Italy, at the Santa Barbara Air Defense Command base in Savoie. The mentioned group of twenty specialists is likely a SAMP/T battery crew, since the advantage of a SAMP/T fire unit is that the battery crew consists of only 14 servicemen, while in the case of a Patriot battery, the crew may consist of a much larger number of service personnel, up to 90 servicemen.
In May 2023, Italian media claimed that elements of the SAMP/T anti-missile battery had already arrived in Ukraine. On May 15 of this year, the Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that the government in Rome had delivered part of the SAMP/T Mamba battery (fire control system) promised to Ukraine and was awaiting the delivery of other elements, i.e. launchers, from Paris.
On June 19, 2023, during a speech at the Paris Air Show, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the delivery of the announced system elements, in particular the launchers. Thus, it can be assumed that the first SAMP/T battery was delivered to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in May-June 2023. In 2024, a decision was made to transfer the second SAMP/T battery to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In April 2023, the G7 foreign ministers, during a meeting organized by Italy in Capri, pledged to provide Ukraine with greater support in the field of air defense.
The French Ministry of Defense emphasized that: "the effectiveness of the SAMP/T air defense system will be enhanced by the Thales GM200 radar, which Ukraine purchased the day before with French funds." On February 5, the commander of the "Ukroluftwaffe" reported that: "the required number of anti-aircraft missile forces units have been sent for training in operating the SAMP/T-Mamba air defense/missile defense systems." On May 15, 2023, France and Italy provided Ukraine with the first SAMP/T air defense missile system. In the fall, the Analisi Difesa portal reported that the second Italian battery of SAMP/T systems arrived in Poland at the end of September 2024 and in November the battery was in Ukraine. As it became known earlier, this SAMP/T battery donated by Italy was previously deployed in Kuwait as part of Operation Inherent Resolve.
As already emphasized above, there are no details about the combat use of the SAMP/T Mamba battery by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as any information about its deployment and combat use, for example, there is not a single photo on the Internet of the fragments of the launched missiles. 700 Aster 30 Block 1 SAMs disappeared without a trace.
It is known that currently in operation in Ukraine there are two batteries that operate against various air targets, with the exception of ballistic missiles - Iskander, Kinzhal and, most likely, the Kh-22/32 cruise missiles, the SAMP/T complex is capable of operating against targets in the interception zone that have a speed of no more than 1000 m/s, while the Patriot has a speed of 1600 m/s. Not only the Kinzhal BRVS, but also the Iskander BM and even the Kh-22/32 cruise missiles on the KUT have a speed greater than the upper limit of the target speed for SAMP/T. It follows that when the system tries to take the target on autotracking, there will be a constant "breakdown of the AS", even if the delta in speeds is small. Both SAMP/T batteries currently do not have Aster 30 missiles, they are all simply used up.
The latest problem - the shortage of anti-aircraft missiles - affects all anti-aircraft systems in service with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is a consequence of the unprecedented intensity of attacks. drones and air-launched cruise missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces, as well as the overall duration of the conflict. However, it is symptomatic that not a single video or even photograph of the Ukrainian Mamba has been published to date. There is much less information about the European system in Ukraine than, for example, in the case of the Patriot SAM system and the capabilities of its MIM-104 A/B/C/D/F SAM, although it should be objectively noted that there are more Patriot batteries in the Ukrovermakht. Two anti-aircraft missile brigades in the Ukrainian Armed Forces are armed with the Patriot SAM system - the 96th and 138th brigades.
MIM-104A Patriot SAM. Launch weight is 907,2 kg, weight of the high-explosive fragmentation warhead is 91 kg, missile length is 5,3 m, midsection diameter is 410 mm, stabilizer wingspan is 870 mm. Maximum SAM speed is 1190 m/s. Maximum interception range is 105 km, maximum altitude reach is up to 18 meters, minimum is 300 meters.
SAM MIM-104F PAC-3 MSE.
The Patriot SAM system was upgraded to the PAC-3 level in three phases: 1995, 1996 and 2000, and projects were designated PAC (Patriot Advanced Capability) 1, 2 or 3. The final software upgrade, known as PDB 5 (PDB stands for post deploy build), was completed in 1999 with initial support for Configuration 3 ground units and PAC-3 MSE missiles. The system received another software upgrade to the WCC OS, as well as a complete redesign of the communications circuitry. With this upgrade, PAC-3 operators can now view, transmit and receive trajectories on the Link 16 command and control (C2) network using a Class 2M terminal or MIDS LVT radio. This capability significantly increases the situational awareness of Patriot SAM crews and other Link 16 network participants, who can receive local air information and transmit it to Patriot SAM operator monitors.
The PAC-3 upgrade included a new missile design, designated MIM-104F, and referred to by the Army as the PAC-3. First deployed in 3, the PAC-1997 is an evolution of the Strategic Defense Initiative ERINT missile, and is therefore fully dedicated to the anti-ballistic missile mission. Miniaturization allows the launcher to carry four PAC-2 missiles instead of one PAC-3 missile canister.
The missile has a launch weight of 316 kg and a warhead (kinetic interceptor) weight of 8,2 kg. The warhead contains 24 tungsten rods and a small amount of explosive (220 grams) to increase the probability of hitting the target. The PAC-3 missile is more maneuverable than previous variants at altitudes above 24 meters due to 000 miniature pulsed solid rocket motors installed in the nose of the missile, called Attitude Control Motors (ACM), which serve to precisely align the missile's trajectory in the transverse plane in "pitch" and "yaw" with the target's trajectory to achieve a direct hit on the target for destruction. The active pulse-Doppler radar seeker operates at a frequency of 180 GHz (Ka-band) and is activated during the last two seconds of flight in the terminal phase of the trajectory when approaching the target.
Starting with the first-generation Nike Ajax, Nike Hercules, S-25, S-75 air defense systems and up to the present day, modern air defense systems use a mathematical model of the missile's flight trajectory — the "parallel approach method" — to guide SAMs. To implement the parallel approach method, the seeker must be stabilized in space. During the flight, the seeker coordinator axis moves parallel to itself. When the speed or direction of the target changes, a misalignment angle appears, a signal about which is sent to the onboard processor, which determines the new position of the lead point and accordingly rotates the stabilization axis.
Another guidance method, more advanced, used in modern SAM systems such as the S-300V/P, in the 5V55, 48N6E, 48N6M, 9M82, 9M83 SAMs, the Patriot SAM in the MIM-104 A/B/C SAM, the SAMP/T SAM in the Aster 15/30 SAM, is the method with a variable lead angle - "proportional navigation". With this method, the angular velocity of the SAM velocity vector is proportional to the angular velocity of the SAM-target line.
In mathematics, the differences between these two methods are minimal. In hardware, to implement the proportional navigation method, in addition to the target tracking coordinator, the SAM must have a velocity meter for the missile velocity vector. A normal acceleration sensor is used as such. The parallel approach and proportional navigation methods allow the SAM flight trajectory to be rationalized by straightening it, minimizing the flight time and required overloads. However, the advantages must be paid for by significantly complicating the onboard guidance equipment.
These methods are widely used and applied when firing at high-speed and highly maneuverable aerodynamic targets, these methods are most optimal for them, but as for ballistic targets, this is a different type of target with completely different parameters, where the target speeds are an order of magnitude higher and more difficult to process. The brain of the Patriot SAM, the fire control station (ECS) AN/MSQ-104, is the WCC SRP - the main 24-bit system computer with a maximum clock frequency of 6 MHz, developed by IBM 50 years ago. This computer controls the operator interface, calculates missile interception algorithms and provides limited diagnostics of system malfunctions.
In the first version of the complex (1980), the SRP was capable of processing only aerodynamic targets with speeds from 160 to 660 m/s. Of course, in comparison with modern personal computers, this provided very limited computing power; during the three modernization programs PAC-1, PAC-2, PAC-3 in the 1980s and 1990s, the WCC computer was modernized several times. The last modification was carried out in 2013. This is the latest data, so the processor is at the 2013 level and has a performance improved by several orders of magnitude.
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control was the main contractor for all three modernization programs PAC-1, PAC-2, PAC-3 (MSE) of the Patriot air defense system. It was its engineers who first broke the stereotypical model of developing modern SAMs, being the first in the world to use a new guidance method, previously not used in SAMs, on the MIM-104F PAC-3 MSE missile - the "chase (pursuit) method".
With the "chase method", the target is not directed by the SAM axis, as with the "direct guidance method" used in anti-ship missiles, but by the velocity vector. For this purpose, a velocity vector position meter is installed on the missile. Then the missile controls will reduce the angle between the velocity vector and the direction to the target to zero. The homing head is rigidly connected to the missile body, the target coordinator measures the angle between the missile velocity vector and the direction to the target - the misalignment angle. This type of homing head is called uncoupled. This guidance method is the most optimal for building air defense systems specialized in combating ballistic targets - BMs with non-detachable warheads or detachable warheads of operational-tactical BMs, MRBMs, SLBMs and ICBMs. Lockheed Martin built the THAAD (Teater High Altitude Area Defense) air defense system using the same model.
During the SVO, eight Patriot SAM batteries and four additional launchers were delivered to Ukraine. Three batteries each came from Germany and the United States, with an additional four launchers donated by Germany, and one battery each from Romania and the Netherlands. In the spring of 2025, it was announced that Ukraine would receive two additional batteries, one each from Germany and Israel, after refurbishment in the United States.
Until recently, it was assumed that, in addition to the Patriot system, the role of a system capable of fighting both aerodynamic and ballistic targets could be played by the Franco-Italian SAMP/T Mamba with a maximum firing range of about 120 km, it once competed with the Patriot in the Polish Wisła program, as well as in Sweden, for example. However, there are serious grounds to assert that the Ukrainian version, i.e. the old version of the SAMP/T, in contrast to the new SAMP/T NG, has lower anti-ballistic capabilities than expected. However, there is no doubt that the Ukrainian SAMP/T is dangerous for Russian aircraft, drones and cruise missiles.
The SAMP/T Mamba system is equipped with the Aster 30 medium-range SAM and a fire control system based on the Arabel X-band multi-functional all-round surveillance radar. It can engage both classic airborne aerodynamic targets such as aircraft, helicopters and cruise missiles, and also allegedly has limited capabilities to engage short-range ballistic missiles (with a launch range of up to 500 km).
It is known that the "Ukrovermacht" currently has two SAMP/T batteries deployed in an unknown location, and another, a third, has been promised. An open question is whether both batteries are currently operational, as they do not have Aster 30 missiles, all previously delivered missiles have been expended.
As with the Patriot SAM system, Ukraine's out-of-date President Volodymyr Zelensky is begging for additional supplies of European Mamba SAM systems.
SAMP/T«Mamba» is not a cake
The silence around the SAMP/T system lasted until March 2025, when an information storm around the Ukrainian Mamba was provoked by an article in the Wall Street Journal on March 11, 2025, which categorically stated that no European system, including SAMP/T, has comparable anti-missile capabilities to the Patriot system. The publication contained the thesis that only Patriot, as the only one, had proven its ability to combat hypersonic and ballistic targets during the SBO. This, of course, is a blow to the reputation of the SAMP/T system in the Ukrainian version, i.e. with the not very modern Arabel radar.
Western media immediately began a campaign to defend and rehabilitate the Italian-French system, allegedly from anonymous air defense specialists from France and Ukraine, stating that the SAMP/T system was and is being used intensively in Ukraine, and that many Aster 30 missiles were successfully launched and hit their targets. The SAMP/T system, like the missile, should have "performed well" against ballistic missiles, although it was acknowledged that there are certain limitations associated with capabilities - primarily the detection range of the Arabel multifunctional radar.
It is probably no coincidence that the head of the press service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, stated that the SAMP/T system recorded the confirmed downing of at least one Sukhoi aircraft, although he did not specify the type of aircraft. There are no new operational details on the use of the SAMP/T system, including in relation to this specific target hit. It is worth noting that there is no word on the possible effectiveness of the SAMP/T against ballistic targets, although Ignat stated in general terms that the SAMP/T also works well against other types of targets.
The late President Zelensky commented on the situation, stating that: "...the biggest problem with the SAMP/T system in Ukraine's air defense is the constant shortage of missiles," and indirectly confirmed that "the anti-missile capabilities of these systems are lower than those of the Patriot." "You can't say that these are analogs of the Patriot, because these systems do not shoot down everything that the Patriot shoots down, but they are good," Zelensky said.
European experts assume that the problems could be in the software, especially since a hybrid unit was assembled, French-Italian, with battery elements from both countries. The second problem is visible in the operation of the Arabel radar radio station, which may negatively affect the full operation of the air defense system and the ability to intercept modern ballistic missiles.
It is worth remembering that the Arabel radar has a shorter range compared to the AN/MPQ-65 radar of the Patriot air defense system, but it is not the newest either. New radars for the SAMP/T NG version, such as the Kronos Grand Mobile High Power from Leonardo (Italy) and the Ground Fire 300 from Thales (France), according to European experts, have incomparably better characteristics than their predecessor.
However, recent media reports indicate that, in addition to the fact that the Arabel-equipped SAMP/T is not a de facto anti-missile system similar in performance to the Patriot system, its combat value was – and remains – limited by the modest supply of ammunition. In other words, the Aster 30 missiles for the SAMP/T have always been few in number compared to Ukraine’s needs, and in recent weeks, they are likely to be non-existent or in very, very short supply.
Ukrainian SAMP/T decommissioned due to lack of missiles.
In March 2025, the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that, due to the depletion of its stock of Aster 30 missiles, Kyiv had made an urgent request to the governments of Italy and France for the rapid delivery of a new batch of SAMs. According to the Italian newspaper, the Ukrainian authorities have been seeking to receive at least 50 Aster 30 missiles for several weeks, while the aforementioned governments had allegedly postponed the decision on the transfer due to their own small stockpiles of the missiles.
On March 14, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov met with his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto in Rome. During the visit, negotiations were also held with representatives of the European consortium Eurosam (MBDA Italy, MBDA France and Thales), which is responsible for the production of Aster 30 missiles. It is not hard to guess what was discussed.
In late May this year, the French daily Le Monde, citing its own unnamed source, reported that Ukraine was short of anti-aircraft missiles, confirming reports from the Italian daily. According to Le Monde, Ukraine does not have Aster 30 missiles for the two SAMP/T batteries, nor missiles for the Crotale SAM system. The Crotale SAM system has not received the missiles, which are no longer in production, for a year and a half.
Aster 30 missile production far from 'wartime mode'
It should be noted that in the production of missiles, we should not expect an increase in production volumes, there are no prospects for an improvement in the situation either in the near future or in the more distant future, since the problem is that the production cycle of Aster 30 missiles is quite long, production volumes have never been very large, and in the short term, little can change in this regard.
The problem of long-term production of Aster missiles was previously pointed out, in particular, by the Ukrainian portal "Defence Express", which recalled that the process of producing a missile (one batch of missiles) in 2023 took about 40 months. The technological production process was reduced from more than three years to two, which changes little, given the intensity of hostilities and the number of missiles expended. Therefore, in the near future, we should not expect a shorter production cycle for Aster 30 missiles and a significantly larger number of ordered missiles.
This should be kept in mind in the context of Italy's announcement of the transfer of another, third battery of SAMP/T systems to Ukraine, and this battery will have a limited ammunition load. In May 2025, the Italian portal Formiche reported that Rome plans to transfer another battery of SAMP/T systems to Ukraine as part of the 11th military aid package. It is assumed that the third SAMP/T battery, as well as the second Italian one, may not be in Ukraine before the fall of this year.
It is not officially known what configuration the Ukrainian SAMP/T batteries are in, so it can be assumed that they are most likely a standard fire unit, i.e. three to four 8-cell launchers, an Arabel radar and a command vehicle.
It is possible that the French SAMP/T battery operates with the Thales GM200 radar station, which was purchased as a single system, i.e. with a command post and communications equipment, in the winter of 2023 (delivery date is spring 2023), but independently of the SAM battery, so it can operate both independently and as part of completely different anti-aircraft systems.
In June 2024, a contract was announced with Thales for a second ControlMaster 200 (CM200) airspace monitoring system, incorporating the aforementioned GM200 radar, communications equipment and the ControlView air defence command centre.
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