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SAMP/T: Per Aspera Ad “Aster”

The SAMP/T is a mobile air defense system developed jointly by France and Italy to provide medium to long-range protection against aircraft, cruise and ballistic missiles, based on the Aster-30 missile developed at the turn of the century.

In the late 1980s, European nations recognized the growing threat of advanced Soviet aircraft, cruise missiles, and especially short-range ballistic missiles, which had been demonstrated during the Iran–Iraq War and later during the 1991 Gulf War. To avoid complete reliance on U.S. systems, France and Italy formed Eurosam, a consortium of Thales, MBDA France, and MBDA Italy to design a European solution that could integrate with NATO defense networks. Already during the 1990s, the joint undertaking took form with the development of the Aster family of missiles, which underwent detailed trials before eventually being accepted into service in the early 2000s by the French Navy.

After the successful deployment with naval forces, the idea to integrate the Aster missile on a mobile land-based platform quickly emerged. As a result, the SAMP/T (Surface-to-Air Missile Platform/Terrain) was developed in the early 2010s with the system being built around the Aster 30 missile. The system was mounted on mobile trucks, giving it rapid deployability and flexibility for protecting both static assets and maneuvering forces. Operationally, the SAMP/T entered service in the early 2010s and has since been deployed by France and Italy in both national and NATO missions, including air defense of allied territory. The SAMP/T remains at the spearhead of France’s and Italy’s missile defense systems to date.

The SAMP/T comes to the game in the Tusk Force major update as the next set of vehicles expanding the roster of Multi-Vehicle SAM systems, first introduced to the game with the previous major update. The SAMP/T will bring this capability to both the French and Italian ground forces trees, so in today’s devblog, we’d like to go through this vehicle. Let’s dive straight in, shall we?

Similar to other nation’s Multi-Vehicle SAM systems, the SAMP/T will also come in a two-vehicle setup in which one represents the main radar, and another the launcher vehicles that can be deployed once you establish yourself comfortably on the battlefield. To this extent, when playing the SAMP/T, you can look forward to the ARABEL radar system which can detect targets up to 80 km away and track up to 10 individual targets simultaneously!

Detecting and tracking an inbound enemy is a useful capability, no doubt. However, it truly becomes effective only when you couple it with a means of eliminating the incoming threat. In this case, the SAMP/T’s Aster-30 missiles have got you covered. Able to intercept aerial targets moving at even supersonic speeds up to a range of 100 km make this the ideal tool for the job when it comes to providing effective anti-air protection for allies on the ground. Similar to other nations’ systems, the SAMP/T first detects its target via the radar unit, launches the missile on a calculated intercept course to the target which can be updated using the data link capability, and finally relies on the missile’s own active radar homing system for terminal guidance to the target.

As for the chassis, it’s the Renault (French version) and Iveco (Italian version) truck which has no armor, but is capable of getting to a maximum speed of up to 100 km/h, allowing you to drive to better positions in a timely manner. Like many other Multi-Vehicle SAM systems, the radar vehicle has a large radar search antenna mounted onto a large compartment with lots of electronic equipment inside. The launcher vehicles themselves are not small either, so make sure to play accordingly!

The SAMP/T will soon greatly elevate the anti-air protection for those who play the French and Italian tree, providing their allies in combined battles with aerial protection following its arrival to the top ranks in the Tusk Force major update. In the meantime, stay tuned to the news as we continue giving you more sneak peaks into what the upcoming update has in store for you!

Please note that this vehicle’s characteristics may be changed before it is added to the game.