The OCCAR (Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement / Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation) Director (Matteo BISCEGLIA), in the name and on behalf of DGA and SGD, and the Managing Director of EUROSAM (Eva BRUXMEIER) signed the Amendment No. 9 to the Sustainment & Enhancement (S&E) contract, concerning the production of the French (GF-300 by Thales) and Italian (Kronos GM HP by Leonardo) radars for the SAMP/T New Generation missile system. In addition, Amendment No. 9 will also provide for the production of new Aster telemetry equipment (CTME NT), developed in the same S&E contract, for the training needs of the Armed Forces concerned (Armée de l’Air, Esercito Italiano, Marine Nationale and Marina Militare)
In this context, France and Italy had already strengthened cooperation in the Air Defense field by launching the development of the SAMP/T NG, notified with Amendment No. 7 on the 19th of March 2021, which will have to meet the joint requirements of the French A.d.A. and the Italian E.I. The signing of this further Amendment constitutes the third fundamental “pillar” (which is added to Amendment No. 8 relating to the Mid Life Update retrofit of Aster missiles, notified on 9th of June 2021) of a complex and articulated S&E contractual framework, finalised by the FSAF-PAAMS P.D. and the GIE EUROSAM in less than one year. As a result, the S&E contract is today globally valuated at more than 2.5 B€.
All the stakeholders, at Government, OCCAR (Central Office and FSAF-PAAMS P.D.) and Industry level, have actively contributed with the utmost professionalism and a cooperative approach to the achievement of such significant and strategic objectives in the interest of Nations and for the further development of the European Defence industry.
Chosen by the French Air force and Italian Armies, SAMP-T provides a local defence capability protecting important tactical areas. It is composed of a series of launcher modules installed on board mobile platforms that operates centrally and comprises of an Arabel radar to ensure detection, tracking of targets and initial guidance of Aster Missiles. SAMP/T is the first system to use the Aster 30T (T for Terrestrial) missile for the medium range interception. In the future, the PAAMS system will also use a navalised Aster 30, called Aster 30N to carry out its mission of local defence area.
