As announced on the 17 September 2024 during the Conference on European Air and Missile Defense in Rome (Italy) by the French Ministry of Defence, Sébastien Lecornu, French Minister of Armed forces officialised a contract, through OCCAR-EA, to launch the serial production of seven additional SAMP/T NG sections for the French Air and Space Forces. SAMP/T NG stands for “Surface-to-Air Missile Platform/Terrain New Generation.” The system is designed to protect against various aerial threats, such as aircraft, drones, and missiles. The SAMP/T NG system is developed through a cooperation between Italy and France. Natively based on the capability to manage the munitions of the Aster family (A30 B1 and A30 B1NT), it will be able to offer a multilayer capability by integration and coordination of SHORAD and V-SHORAD assets.
Each French SAMPT-NG section will be based on the Thales GF300, multifunction rotating active electronically scanned array radar and on the New Generation Engagement Module (ME-NG) produced by Thales. The ME-NG is the core of the system. It is developed through a cooperation between Thales and MBDA Italy. The ME-NG is based on a common core hardware and software architecture able to integrate specific national requirements and different radars, to coordinate or to integrate various weapon systems based on diverse munitions. This order is an additional step towards the renewal of the European Medium-Range Air Defence ground capabilities, following the SAMP/T NG development launched by the two Nations in 2021. The French Air and Space Forces will now benefit from eight SAMP/T NG.
“Thales is proud to contribute to the sovereignty of nations with its most innovative Air Defence technologies, including the New Generation Engagement Module (ME-NG) and the GF300 radar. This contract for seven additional SAMP/T NG for France, is a significant step forward in the European Air Defence. It further strengthens Thales’ role as a trusted partner of the French Air and Space Forces,” Hervé Dammann, Executive Vice-President, Land and Air Systems, Thales said.
Thales S.A., trading as Thales Group is a French multinational company that designs, develops and manufactures electrical systems as well as devices and equipment for the aerospace, defence, transportation and security sectors. The company was previously known as Thomson-CSF since its foundation in 1968. It was rebranded Thales (named after the Greek philosopher Thales pronounced as in French) in 2000. The company is headquartered in Paris’ business district, La Défense, and its stock is listed on the Euronext Paris. It develops products and solutions that help make the world safer, greener and more inclusive. The Group invests close to €4 billion a year in Research & Development, particularly in key innovation areas such as AI, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, cloud technologies and 6G. Thales has close to 81,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2023, the Group generated sales of €18.4 billion.
