Downs aircraft and ballistics: How the least known air defense system in Ukraine works

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Ukrainian air defense will receive a serious reinforcement this autumn. Another SAMP/T system and additional missiles for it. This complex, remaining perhaps the least known among modern air defense means in Ukraine, has one of the most interesting features in the world of interception. And it is related to a warhead approximately six times lighter than its analogues. How is the SAMP/T itself structured? What is its advantage over the world-famous Patriot? And also why has so little been said so far about a complex that has already shot down Russian aircraft? We will analyze this in this video. My name is Anzhelii Kokalchenko, this is Militarny reporting. Let's begin.

SAMP/T was created not for one type of threat, but for several at once. Thanks to vertical launch, it is capable of countering aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, and operational-tactical ballistic missiles from any direction. That is, one system can perform the tasks of several lines of defense at once. Along with the system itself, Ukraine will also receive new radars that allow SAMP/T to see the target long before the missile launch.

But this is only the first step. France and Italy are already developing the next generation, SAMP/T NG. Its main advantage will be modularity. The complex will be able to include not only launchers with Aster missiles, but also launchers with short-range VL MICA missiles. This will allow SAMP/T NG to use different missiles depending on the type of threat. VL MICA will be able to intercept drones and cruise missiles without spending expensive Aster missiles on targets for which they are redundant. At the same time, Aster will remain available for more complex ballistic threats.

But let's take it in order. This system did not appear in a year. Its history began in 1990, when France and Italy jointly launched the Aster program. Within its framework, two missiles were developed – Aster-15 short-range and Aster-30 medium-range for naval and ground complexes. Later, Great Britain also joined the program. But only for the naval direction. London joined the development of the PAMS system, which was intended to use Aster missiles on warships. Instead, the ground direction remained a joint project of France and Italy, which eventually led to the creation of the SAMP/T complex. The first missile launch took place in 1994, and full testing of the complex was completed only in 2005. The first interception of a ballistic target occurred in 2010, 20 years after the start of the program. And these two decades of development were not in vain. SAMP/T remains a technologically relevant complex with versatile capabilities today.

To understand why SAMP/T is capable of such a wide range of tasks, one needs to look inside its main weapon – the Aster-30 missile. But first, we recommend subscribing to the channel to always stay up to date with the latest military news.

Aster-30 is a two-stage missile. The first stage is a Fiat-Avio solid-fuel motor weighing 340 kilograms. It works for only 3.5 seconds, accelerating the missile and putting it on trajectory. Then the first stage separates, and the second stage remains in flight, already twice as light, only 110 kilograms. In the middle section, the missile flies by inertial guidance with course correction via a communication channel with the ground radar. And the final phase is what is missing in most analogues. A side gas generator releases gas through four side nozzles directly in the missile's wings, creating instantaneous vector thrust. This allows for maneuvers with an overload of up to 60G, a figure unattainable for missiles with ordinary aerodynamic rudders. In the last moment before the target, an active radar seeker is turned on, after which the missile acts autonomously. This combination – gas-dynamic control plus autonomous guidance – allows the missile to hit with a deviation of only two meters.

But why then do Aster's competitors not use this technology in their interception missiles? The warhead of the Aster-30 weighs only 15 kilograms. For comparison, the warhead of the PAC-2 GEM-T missile for Patriot is about 90 kilograms. In Russian S-400 missiles, it is 150-180 kilograms depending on the type. That is, the warhead of the Aster-30 is 6, or even 12 times lighter than these analogues. At first glance, this may seem like a disadvantage, but it is a conscious engineering decision. Instead of compensating for accuracy with the mass of the explosive, the developers bet on guidance accuracy and a directional explosion. And the smaller weight of the warhead allowed increasing the missile's acceleration and performing complex maneuvers just before the hit. The speed before the hit exceeds 4.5 Mach – over 5,500 kilometers per hour. In the Block 1 modification, Aster-30 intercepts aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 120 kilometers and an altitude of up to 25 kilometers, and ballistic missiles at a range of up to 30 kilometers. Less explosive here does not mean less effectiveness. When a missile hits with an accuracy of up to 2 meters, it simply does not need to cover the target with the mass of the charge.

But the missile itself is only part of the success. The second half is what helps it find the target even before launch. A typical SAMP/T battery consists of a control vehicle, an "Arabel" radar, and up to six launchers dispersed at a distance of up to 10 kilometers from the radar itself. This increases the survivability of the system. Disabling one launcher does not mean destroying the entire complex. The "Arabel" itself is a three-dimensional phased array radar with four thousand elements, which rotates at a speed of one revolution per second and operates in the X-band, providing azimuthal scanning for a full 360 degrees and in altitude from -5 to 90 degrees. At a peak power of 150 kW, the radar detects targets at a range of up to 250 kilometers and an altitude of up to 25 kilometers, simultaneously tracking up to a hundred targets and managing the guidance of 16 missiles in flight at once. An separate ICCM complex protects the system from electronic warfare. Launchers are mounted on trucks, each of which carries 8 missiles. All of them can start in a volley in less than 10 seconds.

The next generation will receive a more powerful Aster-30 Block 1NT missile with a seeker in the Ka-band, a range of up to 150 kilometers, and the ability to intercept ballistic missiles with a range of up to 1500 kilometers, that is, to shoot down medium-range ballistic missiles. And the new radar will see the target

already at 350 kilometers instead of the current 250. Now let's look at the SAMP/T itself in comparison with the American Patriot, because everything here is not so straightforward. Regarding aerodynamic targets, the ASTR-30 and the newer PAC-3 MSI are essentially on equal footing, both up to 120 kilometers, although the PAC-2 GMT outperforms both at up to 160 kilometers. As for ballistic targets, Patriot pulls ahead. The PAC-3 MSI intercepts them at a distance of up to 60 kilometers, twice as far as the ASTR-30, and also with a kinetic warhead, which is the most effective specifically against ballistics. Overall, the Patriot leads in characteristics, but the SAMP/T has its own advantages. Recall the 360-degree radar readiness and the vertical launch we mentioned earlier. Patriot has inclined launchers and a radar with a limited viewing sector. This flaw was corrected only in the newest LTA-MDS version. The SAMP/T, on the other hand, launches missiles vertically and sees all 360 degrees of space, so it can encounter a threat from any side without rotating. However, this flexibility comes at a price. The ASTR-30 missile costs about 5 million euros, and the production cycle for one unit takes nearly three and a half years. While dozens of countries produce and use the Patriot, only France, Italy, and Singapore had the SAMP/T before its transfer to Ukraine. It turns out that the SAMP/T's strongest side is simultaneously its greatest weakness. The missile is so complex that there is simply no one who can manufacture it quickly. According to President Zelenskyy, this autumn Ukraine will receive one SAMP/T system and new radars from France, and another will arrive depending on production rates. The president called the lack of ASTR-30s the main problem. In September, the parties plan to sign an agreement for the production of additional missiles using European credit funds. Italy is also preparing missiles for the SAMP/T as part of a new aid package, some of which will be transferred by October. Overall, Ukraine expects to receive four SAMP/T NG batteries. While they are being manufactured, France will temporarily transfer two standard SAMP/Ts. But despite the shortage of missiles, there is a solution that can eliminate this problem. French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France will provide Ukraine with licenses for the production of ASTR-30 missiles for SAMP/T complexes on Ukrainian territory. According to him, this should speed up the supply of missiles against the backdrop of limited production capacities of European enterprises. Italy will also join this. Together with France, it plans to transfer a license for the localized production of modernized ASTR-30 B1NT missiles to Ukraine. This decision became part of the work of the anti-ballistic coalition, which is intended to accelerate the development of air and missile defense systems across Europe. If the localization of production works, the main weakness of the SAMP/T—the long and limited missile manufacturing cycle—may cease to be a weakness, specifically thanks to Ukraine. The SAMP/T is a complex with a unique hyper-maneuverable missile capable of intercepting air targets from various directions. It is not a replacement, but rather a supplement to the Patriot, which has its own separate role in defending the Ukrainian sky. And while Ukraine moves toward producing its own missiles for Western air defense systems, the Russians, conversely, are searching for ways to save their own. We recommend watching this video we prepared about the Russian "Pantsir" complex. There, we analyze what extraordinary technological solutions the Russians had to implement due to the effectiveness of Ukrainian drones, and which weak spots of this complex they were still unable to close. That's all from me. Thank you for watching Militarny. See you!