Western military aid to Ukraine has not diminished. After the announcement of the shipment of armored vehicles and main battle tanks, Kyiv should have three or four of the most effective anti-aircraft batteries supplied by France, Italy, the United States and Germany.
The United States will send Patriot systems at the end of a training of 90 soldiers that should last 6 months. Germany has also promised. For France and Italy, things are clear. The two countries have joined forces to send the Ukrainians a Mamba SAMP-T system (Thales) equipped with Aster-30 medium-range missiles (MBDA).
Designed to deal with missile attacks (cruise or ballistic), attack fighter aircraft or drones, this supersonic weapon (mach 4.5) hits a target up to an altitude of 20 km at a distance of more than 100 km.
This new aid was discussed at the end of December during the visit to kyiv by sébastien lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces. The training of Ukrainian soldiers will begin in France at the end of January, the Ministry of the Armed Forces confirmed to us. On the other hand, this project should be formalized in February, a necessary delay so that the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, can settle Italy’s political problems, as indicated Opinionbut above all technical issues with France.
An assembly in discussion
Neither Paris nor Rome intend to separate from their Mamba. There are 6 in Italy. France has 8 used for the defense of strategic sites (on land and on ships) and one was deployed in Romania as part of the “Aigle” mission carried out within the framework of NATO. Therefore, the system that will be shipped to Ukraine next summer will be an assembly of elements between France and Italy. The distribution is still under discussion.
The Mamba is a complex system that includes the firing system made up of eight launch tubes installed on 8×8 trucks (Astra/Iveco or Renault-Kerax), a powerful electric generator and a firing control system based on electronically scanned radar. multifunction. The operation of a system requires several dozen people.
As for the issue of Aster-30 missiles, the issue remains confidential, especially since ammunition stocks are in short supply and these weapons are very expensive. According to a Senate report, this program launched in 2002 cost around 1.5 billion euros (design and manufacture). The price of a system is close to 50 million euros (1 fire control, 4 launchers, 3 reloading systems) and that of the missile is 1.4 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
