Italy to provide air defense equipment as part of sixth military aid package

21 February, 2023

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 21, 2023

As part of the new package of military aid to Ukraine, Italy will provide not only the SAMP-T air defense system, but also the Skyguard and Spada systems.

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, announced this during a joint briefing with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Prime Minister said that the sixth military aid package was being formed, with an emphasis on air defense equipment. According to her, the current strategic goal is to protect Ukrainian critical infrastructure.

“We worked a lot on this together with France to quickly combine our technologies. The SAMP-T air defense system is very important, but the new aid package also includes other systems – Skyguard and Spada,” the Prime Minister said.

Aster 30 missile launch from the SAMP/T TEL of the Italian army

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed his thanks during a joint briefing, calling the new military aid package as “powerful”.

“SAMP-T is a very serious technology, we worked on it for a long time, and the personal leadership of the Prime Minister gave us the opportunity to get these systems. In addition, Ukraine will receive two more important systems to protect the lives of our people,” Zelensky said.

Italy also intends to help Ukraine with the demining of territories.

Spada air defense system

The Spada Aspide ground-based anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) is also known as Skyguard Aspide. This is a joint Italian-Swiss development.

It was designed in the course of modifying the Aspide missile for its use on land platforms. The missile system is mounted on the American RIM-7E Sea Sparrow.

The missile is equipped with a semi-active radar.

Skyguard Aspide SAM. Illustrative photo from open sources

The radius of action reaches 35 km. The targets to be hit are 8,000 meters in height. The flight speed is 1,324 m/s, while the weight of the warhead is 30 kg.

At the beginning of November last year, Italy’s ruling coalition representative told the media that the government was considering providing Ukraine with a variety of air-defense systems, including the French-Italian SAMP-T SAM and the Italian Aspide anti-aircraft missile system, which were decommissioned.

Previously, Ukraine received a similar anti-aircraft missile system from Spain. It was reported that the Defense Forces of Ukraine would receive one battery of this system and missiles for it.

SAMP/T

The SAMP/T anti-aircraft missile system was developed by the European consortium Eurosam (MBDA Italy, MBDA France, Thales).

SAMP/T SAM. Photo from open sources

This system is able to destroy aerodynamic targets at a distance of up to 150 km and at an altitude of up to 25 km. The system can also intercept ballistic missiles from up to 25 kilometers away and at the same altitude.

The SAM is built on the basis of the French Aster-30 solid-fuel anti-aircraft missile. Missile speed – 4,5М (1400 m\s). The weight of the warhead is 20 kg, the starting weight is 450 kg.

France and Italy are preparing a plan for the joint transfer of the SAMP/T air defense system battery

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/italy-to-provide-air-defense-equipment-as-part-of-sixth-military-aid-package/

That's great!