Andiamo SAMP / T!

The Esercito the Italian Army, just declare an initial operational capability on anti-aircraft system SAMP / T. This capability is achieved one month ahead of schedule, which included an "Initial Operational Capability" (IOC) for the first days of 2013. It is in any case an important step for the Italians who chose to upgrade their air defense system developed by the consortium Eurosam (MBDA / Thales). The SAMP / T is implemented by the 4th Air Defence Regiment "Peschiera" stationed on the outskirts of Mantua, who eventually align five batteries of four launchers each. An immediate capacity of 160 missiles, with eight missiles per launcher. The regiment whose history dates back to 1926 is not new to air defense: after a long use of ground-air guns, he implemented the Hawk missile in 1964. Its position in Lombardy allowed him to face Yugoslavia while protecting Italy's industrial north. Hawk had created a first shock by allowing secure the Italian air defense in NATO. The SAMP / T now brings very significant gains both in scope, mobility, interception capability against targets of diverse sizes, that integration into the network of air defense.

The SAMP / T used by Esercito is very close to the equipment used by the French Air Force (ten complete systems ordered four batteries each). It differs, however, by the presence of an additional command vehicle in each battery. Mounted on a truck 8 × 8, PC tactical offers an overview of current operations and operations planning at the battery. These tasks included in the network for the French Martha.

Eurosam announced that so far transferred to Italy owned by three full batteries (four launchers each vehicle and associated implementation), the fourth to be delivered at the end of the year. The fifth ordered, will be available at the end of March 2013. A full operational capability (FOC) is expected to Italy at the end of 2013. At this time, the last two batteries of Hawk transalpine still in service have been removed from service.