Washington Asks Rome for Anti-Missile Systems for Kiev

Jan. 7, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s advisor Francesco Tatò yesterday, to ask the Italian government to send Samp-T defense systems to Ukraine. The decision should be taken before the Jan. 20 Ramstein Air Base meeting in Germany. To do so, the government should issue a government decree (the sixth one on aid to Ukraine).

Samp-T is an anti-aircraft system jointly developed by Italy and France and integrated into NATO defense, tested on the battleground in Turkiye. It is a powerful anti-aircraft system but It has a limited capacity against missiles. A Samp-T battery is composed of six modules and costs €500 million. It can be equipped with 8 to 30 missiles, each one costing €2 million.

Italy has five such batteries, one of which is a training battery, stationed in Mantua.