French Air Defense upgrade: New SAMP/T NG system enters production

According to Eurosam, the decision was made on September 17, 2024, during the second European conference dedicated to air and missile defense, which took place in Rome. The order was signed under the OCCAR-EA platform, allowing the latest generation of the SAMP/T system to enter serial production.

This marks the conclusion of the development process of the NG version, initiated in 2021. The French contract complements new radars purchased with Italy in 2023. Now, the French have decided to acquire new launchers.

The SAMP/T NG system is the latest incarnation of the SAMP/T system, with one and soon two batteries that will also protect Ukraine. The newest version includes two significant changes.

The first is using significantly better 360-degree radars based on active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology, vastly superior to older passive electronically scanned array (PESA) antennas. The old radar had a range of over 62 miles and could guide ten missiles simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the new Kronos Grand Mobile High Power radars from Leonardo and the almost identical Ground Fire 300 radars from Thales allow for the detection of objects with a radar cross-section of 0.01 square meters and offer a detection range of up to 248 miles. The Leonardo radar can track over 1,000 objects, with 30 simultaneously targeted.

This is a significant improvement, which, combined with the new Aster 30 Block 1NT missiles, which have a range of over 93 miles against aircraft and likely increased range against ballistic missiles (over the current 18 miles), will significantly enhance the capabilities of France, Italy, and potential future users.

The Aster-30 missiles are a two-stage design. The first segment falls off once the engine burns out, and a smaller section with its propulsion and a 33-pound fragmentation warhead continues to the target. It also has small maneuvering thrusters of the "PIF" type to improve hit accuracy in the final interception phase. This is a less sophisticated solution than the kinetic energy hit-to-kill warheads of the PAC-3MSE missiles but significantly cheaper.

It is also worth noting that the missile has an active radar seeker. Therefore, it is a “fire-and-forget” design, which allows the system to defend against simultaneous attacks from multiple objects from different directions.

A SAMP/T system battery consists of a truck with a radar, a command center, and up to six launchers containing eight missiles each. This system's significant advantage over the older Patriot is its ability to be operated by only 19 soldiers and deploy in less than 30 minutes.