Italy announces delivery of SAMP/T to Ukraine by end of September

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said that Ukraine will receive the promised SAMP/T air defence missile system by the end of September. This was reported by Rai News.

Crozetto announced the upcoming delivery at the “European air and missile defence commerce” conference.

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto stated, “We know how much every minute of delay costs, and we will deliver the new Samp/T system to Ukraine by the end of the month.”

The Italian minister was referring to the latest aid package to Ukraine that also contained a Samp/T anti-aircraft defence system.

Ukraine officially received the SAMP/T air defence system in June. Last week, the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Italy discussed a new Italian military aid package.

Ukraine received the first SAMP/T system, also known as MAMBA, in 2023. This Franco-Italian air defense system can track dozens of targets and intercept 10 simultaneously; it is also the only European-made system capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

Russian invasion forces constantly launch missile attacks and air strikes against Ukraine. At the end of the third year of full-scale war and in the face of an unsettling fall and winter, Ukraine still does not have enough modern air defence systems to protect its skies.

Ukraine’s allies have already supplied Kyiv with many air and missile defence systems. However, the size of the territory and the massive scale of missile and drone attacks overwhelm the air defence system, and Ukraine still needs more air protection. 

In August and September, Russia again launched massive missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in an attempt to put pressure on Ukrainian civilians through blackouts and a lack of heating during the cold fall. The Russian attacks are expected to continue while winter draws near.