The SAMP/T is the land-based air defence system based on the Aster 30, one of the best surface-to-air
missiles in the Western World.
Currently, it is being baptized with fire in Ukraine.
This war will show us if it is as successful as it is on paper.
Before the truth reveals itself, let's try to anticipate what might happen in the future.
As the Weapon Detective, we are now investigating the SAMP/T and its advantages and weaknesses.
The SAMP/T is an air defence system, effective against various air threats, such as aircraft,
tactical ballistic missiles, standoff missiles, cruise missiles or anti-radiation missiles.
It is among the best in its class, at least on paper.
The system now has the chance to prove itself in combat conditions.
The system is known by many names, which are all abbreviations.
The SAMP/T comes in the initials of the "Sol-Air Moyenne-Portée/Terrestre", French for "Surface-to-Air
Medium-Range/Land-based".
Some sources named it FSF SAMP/T.
The FSF is the abbreviation of "Famille de Sol-Air Futurs" meaning "Future Surface-to-air
Family".
The French Army calls the system SAMP/T Mamba.
The name Mamba refers to a fast-moving and highly venomous snake species.
But it is also an abbreviation.
It comes in the initials of the "Moyen de défense Anti-Missile Balistique et Aérobie",
which can be roughly translated as "ballistic and agile anti-missile defence".
The missile of the SAMP/T, the Aster 30, also takes its name from an acronym that came from
"Aérospatiale Terminale".
The French company Aérospatiale was the project's lead contractor before its missile activities
were merged into MBDA.
Terminale can be roughly translated as "the final point" or the "the latest".
Before analysing the SAMP/T, let's briefly look at its history and features.
In the early 1980s, France and Italy began to seek a more advanced new air defence missile
to replace the Crotale, Aspide, RIM-7 Sea Sparrow and RIM-66 SM-1s in their inventories.
So, these two countries decided to work jointly.
Initially, they focused on a ship-based short to medium-range missile, effective against
aircraft and cruise missiles, which led to the development of the Aster 15.
However, the U.S. air strike on Libya on April 15, 1986, caused a change in the perspective.
After this bombing, also known as Operation El Dorado Canyon, Libya performed a retaliation
attack on NATO's navigation station on the Italian Lampedusa Island with two Scuds.
Even though they missed the target, France and Italy realized their anti-ballistic missile
defence capabilities were critically insufficient, which led to the development of the Aster
30.
So, the SAMP/T Programme, the land-based variant of the Aster 30, began in 1989.
In those years, the U.K. decided to join the partnership for the ship-based variant of
the Aster 30, rahter the land-based version.
So, France and Italy signed an agreement to continue alone to develop the SAMP/T in 1997.
Six years later, they approved the acquisition of the system.
The trials began in 2005 and continued until 2010.
The first operational SAMP/T battery was delivered to France in 2010.
Currently, two variants of the Aster 30 are operational.
The Block 1 version is effective against ballistic missiles with a range of up to 600 kilometres.
The Block 1NT variant can intercept a ballistic missile with a range of up to 1,500 kilometres.
The letters N and T are the initials of the words "New Technology".
Besides, MBDA is working on the Aster 30 Block 2 version, which will be effective against
highly manoeuvrable ballistic missiles with a range of up to 3,000 kilometres.
The company also studied the more extended range Aster 45 and Aster 60 missiles, but
these projects were not realized.
The active radar-guided Aster 30 launchers can be mounted on different trucks.
For example, the French and Italian armies have preferred the 8x8 Renault TRM 10,000
and 8x8 Iveco-Astra ACTL HD8 SM 88.45, respectively.
The export variants of the SAMP/T are mounted on the Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles 8x8
TG-series trucks.
These firing units have high off-road capability and are air-transportable by C130 and A400M-class
aircraft.
Thanks to its high level of interoperability and capability for integration with a distributed
architecture, the SAMP/T offers flexibility in operation.
A typical SAMP/T battery includes a command and control vehicle, one radar vehicle, and
four to six firing units.
The X-band Arabel 3D multifunction radar has a range of 60 kilometres and can track 100
targets simultaneously.
During the surveillance mode, the operations of the Arabel are coordinated under EM control,
which provides the most effective surveillance coverage.
The radar has 360 degrees horizontal and -5 to +90 degrees vertical coverage.
All information acquired by the Arabel can be shared with higher-level headquarters.
The air defence system can be integrated with other radars and sensors, which extends the
target detection range to 120 kilometres.
The setup time for a firing unit is 15 minutes.
Each launcher vehicle can be deployed as far as 10 kilometres from the radar vehicle.
The fire control computer classifies and prioritises the possible targets based on different criteria,
such as firing procedures, threatening track urgency, and interception rules.
This feature significantly reduces the workload, reaction time and number of required personnel.
Each firing unit can prepare up to two Aster 30s simultaneously.
The launching operation can be executed from the battery command and control centre or
higher-level headquarters.
The reaction time of the SAMP/T is less than 10 seconds.
A firing unit can send two missiles towards a target in less than 1 second.
Yet a full salvo of eight missiles requires 10 seconds.
The two-stage Aster 30 is launched vertically via a solid-propellant booster, which provides
360-degree attack coverage.
After launch, the booster separates from the missile's dart within a few seconds.
This dart is also equipped with a sustainer motor, a proximity fuse and a focused fragmentation
warhead that is effective even against the most hardened targets.
It combines conventional aerodynamic control with a direct thrust control system that uses
gas jets acting on the interceptor's centre of gravity.
So, the dart can perform up to 60g manoeuvres.
Even though the Aster 30 has a more extended flight range, it has an effective range of
25 to 30 kilometres against guided missiles and 70 to 100 kilometres against aircraft.
When the focused fragmentation warhead is activated, it creates a 2-metre lethal radius.
Thanks to its ability to conduct 10 to 12 simultaneous engagements, with up to 16 to
24 missiles simultaneously in flight, a SAMP/T battery can successfully deal with heavy saturation
attacks.
France, Italy, Singapore and Ukraine are the current user of the SAMP/T.
Even though Turkey signed a contract for the acquisition of the SAMP/T in 2018, the programme
was put on hold one year later due to the military intervention of the Turkish Army
in the Syrian civil war.
Still, the parties have continued the negotiations.
The Aster 30 has a length of 4.9 metres, a diameter of 180 millimetres, and a weight
of 450 kilograms.
The missile's focused fragmented warhead with a calculated delay proximity fuze weighs 15
kilograms.
Its range is 120 kilometres and 150 kilometres for the Block 1 and Block 1NT variants, respectively.
The effective altitude of the Aster 30 is 20,000 metres, in other words, over 65,600
feet.
Its speed is Mach 4.5.
Why France and Italy developed a new missile instead of acquiring the Patriot as many NATO
members did?
Introduced into the service in 1976, the MIM-104A was just an anti-aircraft weapon.
Even though the U.S.A. introduced the PAC-1 variant, which was an MIM-104A with updated
software, the Patriot still had insufficient anti-ballistic missile capability.
The real ballistic missile hunter of the family, the PAC-2, was introduced in 1983.
So, a joint European missile programme had a great chance in the international market.
Besides, the PAC-2 had many disadvantages inherited from the previous design philosophy
for air defence missiles.
The launchers of the Patriot had to be deployed towards to possible course of the incoming
threats.
So they could not provide 360-degree coverage.
Yes, the PAC-2 made a name for itself during the 1991 Gulf War by intercepting 41 of 42
Scuds fired by the Iraqis.
However, the success of this missile in this war is still debatable because the U.S. Army
performed a full-battery salvo for each Scud to achieve this success.
The PAC-2, which was a modified variant of an anti-aircraft missile, was designed for
long-range engagements.
The U.S. planners had planned to hit the target from over 100 kilometres range.
But, like its other counterparts, after 40 to 60 kilometres, the effectiveness of the
PAC-2 against ballistic missiles was decreasing geometrically.
So, the Western World needed a more capable missile.
Even the U.S.A. developed the PAC-3 variant.
Initially, the SAMP/T had great potential.
But, like many other joint European projects, the development process of the Aster was too
slow, which also caused high costs.
And the First Cold War ended.
Many countries naturally preferred the Patriot because it was an available, low-cost, and
combat-proven system.
So, even though many navies preferred its ship-based version, the land-based variant
of the Aster could not achieve as big a marketing success as expected.
Still, the Aster 30 is a more effective anti-ballistic missile system on paper than its U.S. rival.
The following days of the current Russo-Ukraine War will show us if this claim is true or
false.
On January 27, 2023, France and Italy announced they would give Ukraine four SAMP/T firing
units and 700 Aster 30s.
A month later, the training of the Ukrainian crew began, and the first SAMP/T was delivered
on May 15, 2023.
Currently, there is no reliable information about the performance of this system in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian SAMP/Ts are integrated with the S-bands GM200 with a surveillance range
of 250 kilometres.
This radar can engage a target from up to 100 kilometres distance.
So, the GM200 enhances the effectiveness of the SAMP/T.
The vertical-launched Aster 30s will give 360-degree coverage, a capability the Patriot
does not have.
So, the SAMP/T will provide better tactical deployment.
With its high kill ratio, the Aster will intercept Russian air attacks conducted by ballistic
missiles, cruise missiles, drones and aircraft.
But each advantage also brings a disadvantage.
The high costs of the SAMP/T are still a significant handicap.
Russia has acquired Irani-made low-cost drones for kamikaze attacks.
Indeed, a fighter jet, helicopter, ballistic missile or cruise missile might be worth spending
an Aster 30.
But, 700 Aster 30s will be more expensive than 1,000 Iranian kamikaze drones.
Forty years ago, governments were free to sacrifice a part of the population considering
economic reasons.
Let's think about a citizen whose house or family is a victim of a cheap kamikaze drone.
Today, no official can say they were not worth it economically.
For this reason, it should not be ignored that the SAMP/T might become an element that
can damage the motivation of the Ukrainian people or that there are also risks to bringing
a terrific economic dilemma.
Nevertheless, the SAMP/T will play an essential role in the war in Ukraine.
Some brilliant achievements can help it reach a bigger market.
Also, the possible successes of the SAMP/T can lead to the birth of a new generation
by changing the perceptions of land-based defence missile systems.
So we may say the SAMP/T and Aster 30 await on the brink of a future that has not yet
been shaped.
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