TSAMTO, March 23. At a ceremony held on March 19 in Paris, the European Organization for Cooperation in the Field of Armaments (OCCAR) signed a contract for the development of a new generation SAMP/T NG (New Generation) air defense system for the Armed Forces of France and Italy.
The event was attended by the leadership of the French Air Force, the Italian Armed Forces, the Directorate General for Armaments of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces (DGA) and the Directorate of Armaments of Italy (SGD).
OCCAR has entered into this agreement through the DGA and SGD with the Franco-Italian Eurosam consortium, which includes MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales.
The new contract complements the agreement signed in 2016 to improve the SAMP/T systems in service with the French and Italian Air Forces.
Under the new contract, the Eurosam consortium is to implement a number of key improvements to the SAMP/T system, based on:
- an improved rocket to expand the Aster family: Aster Block-1 NT (new technology) with a new GOS and an on-board computer that allows you to resist new threats;
- upgraded launcher with new electronic equipment;
- a new multifunctional rotating radar with an active phased array antenna with electronic scanning;
- a command and control module based on updated software with an open architecture to improve command, control, and communication capabilities.
The SAMP/T NG air defense system is designed to perform all ground-based air defense tasks and will feature advanced capabilities. The SAM will be a long-range air defense system capable of:
- to be used in conditions of heavy air traffic of civil vessels in cooperation with friendly military aviation, to be fully integrated into the network system of air defense;
- provide 360 degrees in the sector. protection of the locations of the armed forces, civilian or military facilities;
- simultaneously hit twice as many different types of targets in any combination;
- counter emerging and future threats, including maneuvering ballistic missiles, ballistic missile warheads, high-speed tactical missiles, UAVs, and highly maneuverable aircraft in a massive attack scenario in a complex cyber environment;
- provide rapid deployment with limited calculation and ease of integration into the network air defense system.
As stated, thanks to the expanded functionality of SAMP/T, NG will allow France, Italy and other customers to guarantee sovereignty in the airspace, the protection of their territory, population and troops during combat operations.
As reported by TSAMTO, SAMP/T is a mobile ground-based air defense system using the Aster-30 missile developed by MBDA. The two-stage solid-fuel missile system weighing 450 kg is equipped with an active radar homing head, a 15-kg high-explosive warhead, develops a speed of up to 4.5 M and is capable of hitting targets flying both at low altitude and along an aeroballistic trajectory. The maximum range of destruction of aerodynamic targets is up to 120 km, height – from 50 m to 20 km.