Italy sends the Samp-T missile system to Kiev, tested in the Salto di Quirra inter-force range, for defense against Russian air attacks. The announcement came in recent days from the Ministry of Defence. While qualified sources confirmed today to ANSA that about twenty Ukrainian soldiers have completed a training phase in Italy , for the use of the weapon system: the training activity, according to what transpires, it would take place in Sabaudia (Latina), in the Army Artillery Command.
No confirmation, so far, on the hypothesis that the soldiers sent from Kiev in the next few days will be able to carry out field tests, in a simulation of war theater, in the military area between Perdasdefogu and Sarrabus, in Sardinia.
The dispatch of the Samp-T is foreseen in the short term. General Leonardo Tricarico, former military adviser to three Prime Ministers and Chief of Staff of the Air Force, defines it as "valuable" support for the Ukrainian cause in the conflict against Moscow: a single battery in the system has an estimated value of around 800 million of Euro.
An official communication from the Ministry of Defense explains what it is about: «Developed starting from the early 2000s as part of the Italian-French FSAF (Family of Air Surface Systems) program, the Samp-T was born from the need to have of a medium-range missile system suitable for operating in new operational scenarios" .
Italy has «5 batteries which, since the entry into service of the system in 2013, have been used in many operational and training activities». The note from the dicastery continues as follows: «Every year the Samp-T batteries took part in the main Defense exercise event, the Joint Stars at the Salto di Quirra Joint Range in Sardinia, where they demonstrated full interoperability with the air defense systems national even in the presence of Electronic Warfare».
The island has been an area of experimentation even in the very first phase of use. And in 2003 there was a dangerous accident : on April 16 of that year, around 5.20 pm, an Aster missile fired with the Samp-T went off course and its fragments ended up in the countryside between Escalaplano, Armungia and Ballao.
The command of the Interforce Polygon had issued a brief statement on the matter, in which it was specified that «due to technical problems, the components of the prototype fell within the clearing areas. Only a part, driven by a strong wind at high altitude, ended up in an uninhabited area without causing damage to people or things".