Thread by @aidefranceukr

“(...) the SAMP/T had a very attractive cost and air defence and anti-ballistic capabilities comparable to, and sometimes superior to, those of the Patriot, including a radar with 360° coverage compared to 120° for the Patriot (...)”.

🧵🧵

The Aster missile family is about to expand with the arrival of the Aster 15 EC. These surface-to-air missiles, which entered service in 2001, represented a real cultural revolution in air defence.

For the first time, Western nations could rely on a non-American (or Soviet) system to provide medium and long-range air defence for their installations or ships.

The Aster family consisted of two missiles. The Aster 30, equipped with a long-range booster, allowed the missile to reach a range of more than 120 km and an altitude of 20 km.

The Aster 15 was more compact, 4.2 m compared to 4.9 m, and lighter, 310 kg compared to 450 kg.

Although it retained the extreme manoeuvrability of the Aster family and an active radar seeker of very high efficiency, it only had a range of more than 30 km, although 45 km was often mentioned in the press.

At the time, other intermediate-range missiles had lower ranges: 42 km for the Russian 9M37 Buk, 40 km for the American ESSM and 30 km for the Norwegian NASAMS.

Since then, these systems have evolved considerably and all of them reach a range of 50 km, including the ESSM, NASAMS and the German Iris-t SLM, sometimes more, 70 km for the 9M37 missile of the Buk-M3.

It was therefore necessary for the Aster 15 to evolve, as the Aster 30 did with Block 0, Block 1 and Block 1NT. This is what @MBDAFrance is now doing.

Although it entered service in 2001, the Aster missile had never been used in combat until it was deployed against Houthi drones and anti-ship missiles in the Red Sea and against missiles and drones in Ukraine. The Russians.

Until then, the European missile had demonstrated remarkable qualities during test firings and exercises, including international ones, in particular the naval versions on board frigates and destroyers of the French, Italian and British navies.

However, since it could not rely on the “combat proven” label, nor on the superiority of the European missile manufacturer in the field of long-range surface-to-air missiles, the Aster had great difficulty in establishing itself in international competitions.

The intensive use of Aster missiles by the frigates of the Royal Navy, the @MarineNationale and the Marina Militare in the face of Houthi drones and cruise missiles, with an excellent success rate, thus marks a radical change in the missile’s image on the international scene.

Especially since the French frigate Alsace became the first European ship to successfully intercept not one but three anti-ship ballistic missiles, putting the Aster on a par with the American Patriot PAC and SM-6.

In 2023, in response to the evolving threat and competition, @MBDAGroup undertook to develop a new version of the Aster 15. Known as the Aster 15 EC, this missile is due to enter service in 2030, initially on board the four SYLVER 43 systems of the French aircraft carrier.

According to MBDA, it will have twice the range of the Aster 15 at over 60 km, bringing it back into the upper echelon of medium-range missiles. Its other capabilities, in particular its seeker, will also evolve in response to evolving threats and their defence capabilities.

If the range of the Aster 15 EC is double that of the Aster 15, we can expect the same for its “ceiling”, which in this case should easily reach 18 km, making it possible to use the missile against high-altitude targets, perhaps even ballistic missiles in the terminal phase.

In order to meet the needs of Ukraine, the growing strength of the French armed forces and the creation of operational reserves, as well as to satisfy export demand, MBDA is today called upon to significantly increase the production of its Aster, Mistral 3 and Akeron missiles.

Last spring, Sébastien Lecornu threatened requisition to force @MBDAFrance, and in particular its network of subcontractors, to increase the production rates of Aster and the volume of production stocks in order to ensure sustainable and uninterrupted industrial activity.

French authorities and @MBDAFrance are expecting a revival of interest in these missiles in the light of increased global demand, uncertainties about US production and their proven effectiveness in Ukraine and the Red Sea.

This aspect has not escaped the attention of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. In fact, they have published two articles praising the Patriot, the first on its performance, including against the 🇷🇺 Kinzhal, and the second praising the 🇺🇲 industrial production capacity around it.

Raytheon and Lockheed Martin know that the Aster systems, whether the SAMP/T or the PAAMS, have so far suffered from an image deficit compared with competing U.S. systems, which have been effectively promoted by manufacturers and opinion-formers in the USA, including in Europe.

Its anti-ballistic capabilities are comparable to those of Patriot and, in some cases, even better, including a radar with 360° coverage compared to Patriot’s 120°, until AN/MPQ-65 radar is introduced.

So far, however, the system has only found one buyer outside France and Italy: Singapore in 2013.

According to @LaTribune, Belgium, Denmark and Brazil are very interested in the SAMP/T NG, “more efficient than the Patriot”.

However, for several months now, the system supplied to Ukraine by Rome and Paris, and the Aster 15 and 30 of European frigates and destroyers, have largely demonstrated their great effectiveness against a wide variety of targets, ... ⤵️

... ranging from drones to ballistic missile attacks, including anti-ship or supersonic cruise missiles.

MBDA and Eurosam, the joint venture between @MBDAFrance, @ThalesDefence and Leonardo, are now in a position of strength to try to impose the system, including in Europe.

In order to achieve this, however, it will be necessary to persuade Germany to allow the SAMP/T to join the European Sky Shield Initiative programme, launched by Olaf Scholz in 2022, which already includes 22 countries.

In this field, the arrival of the Aster 15 EC will not make the task of the French and Italian negotiators any easier.

In fact, with an extended range of more than 60 km, the missile clearly outperforms the German IRIS-T SLM, which only reaches 40 km and which was ... ⤵️

... to become the mainstay of the ESSI, while the Aster 30 has demonstrated its anti-ballistic effectiveness and the Aster Block 1NT will surpass the Patriot PAC-3 in this field.

“Under these conditions, it could well be that the Franco-Italian Mamba, once approved within the ESSI, will quickly become the European standard, to the great consternation of Berlin and the United States, for whom the initiative was a very effective stepping stone to taking control of European air defence.”

“We can well imagine, in these conditions, the lack of enthusiasm of the Germans and the lobbying of the Americans to prevent the arrival of France and Italy, and in particular the SAMP/T and the Aster, within the ESSI programme”.

meta-defense.fr/2024/08/01/mis…