July 13Ukraine has received licenses for the local production of Aster-30 anti-aircraft guided missiles for SAMP/T complexes, SCALP cruise missiles, and AASM Hammer air-guided bombs, French President Emmanuel Macron said during a press conference after a meeting of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.
According to the French leader, this concerns the licensed production in Ukraine of Aster-30 anti-aircraft missiles, which are used in the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air defense systems, Scalp cruise missiles, as well as AASM high-precision aerial bombs.
Macron clarified that the decision to license the production of new capacities for Aster-30 will allow for the much faster production of these assets together with Ukrainian partners directly in the country.
The move is synchronized with the statement of US President Donald Trump: he previously announced the authorization of the production of interceptor missiles for Patriot complexes. France made a similar decision for Aster, and several other countries have concluded similar licensing agreements.
In addition to the licenses, Ukraine will receive the first batch of new-generation SAMP/T NG batteries. They will complement the systems that will be delivered with the missiles in the coming weeks. Currently, according to the publicationThe War Zone, Ukraine operates two basic SAMP/T systems — one from France, the other from Italy.
SAMP/T (Mamba) is a French-Italian medium- and long-range anti-aircraft guided missile, developed by the Eurosam consortium with the participation of MBDA and Thales, the main interceptor of the SAMP/T ground-based complexes.
The range of aerodynamic targets exceeds 150 km, the interception altitude reaches 25 km, and against maneuverable ballistic missiles with a range of over 600 km, the system is capable of operating in fully autonomous mode.
The effectiveness of SAMP/T against ballistic targets was previously confirmed by the Chief of the French Defense Staff, General Fabien Mandon:
The Russians changed the flight profiles of their most advanced missiles after realizing they were being intercepted by Ukrainian defenses, and today the Patriot has difficulty intercepting these targets, while the SAMP/T copes with it.
Also Emmanuel Macronconfirmed plans to supply aircraft: Ukraine plans to purchase 16 Rafale fighters along with a set of weapons. The first aircraft should appear in Ukrainian skies in 2028–2029.
The statements were made at the founding meeting of the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition in Paris. The coalition was founded by ten states: Ukraine, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. President Volodymyr Zelensky, thanking Macron for organizing the meeting, emphasized:
The more means Ukraine has to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles, the higher the likelihood that Putin will sit down at the negotiating table, as his “last argument” in the war will cease to work.
At the same time, Zelenskyy admitted that Ukraine currently does not have a sufficient number of interceptors capable of destroying ballistic missiles.
.