President Emmanuel Macron has announced that French-Italian SAMP/T “Mamba” air defense missiles have been delivered to Ukraine and deployed, which will protect “key installations and human lives there.”
According to missile manufacturer MBDA, the SAMP/T is a “mobile anti-aircraft defense weapon for theater protection. It protects sensitive sites and deployed forces against missile threats (TBM, stand off, cruise missiles, ARM) and aircraft, replacing all existing medium range ground-to-air systems.”
?Ukraine, défense aérienne, industrie, le président s'exprime
??@EmmanuelMacron : "Je suis heureux de pouvoir vous annoncer avec Giorgia Meloni que le SAMP/T franco-italien est désormais déployé et opérationnel en Ukraine. C'est vraiment l'Europe qui protège l'Europe".
?#La26 pic.twitter.com/lBgrDLkr6O— LCI (@LCI) June 19, 2023
It is designed to “meet medium and long range air defense needs (force projection, protection of high-value areas and area protection). It can operate in stand alone mode or can be integrated in a co-ordinated network.”
The delivery of the SAMP/T missiles has been months in the making, as it was first announced by France and Italy in February. Ukrainian servicemen underwent training to operate the system earlier this year.
