NATO revealed Tuesday that the Italian Army and French Air Force have successfully tested the first European surface-to-air missile system, thereby proving its ability to work with the western military alliance's interim Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) command and control system.
According to a statement posted on NATO's website, the French/Italian SAMP/T surface-to-air missile system was tested on March 6. The system successfully engaged and destroyed a theatre ballistic missile target in a live-fire test at the French Firing Range in Biscarrosse.
"After several successful tests conducted with the NATO BMD Integration Test Bed, this live firing event linked the actual SAMP/T system to the NATO BMD chain of command. It was the final test of the SAMP/T system's capability and interoperability with NATO command and control ahead of the planned adding of the system to the inventory of NATO missile defense assets in late 2013," the alliance said.
The SAMP/T, a joint Franco-Italian air and missile defense system, is already in operations with the French Air Force and the Italian Army in an air defense role, and is planned to reach its missile defense initial operational capability in 2013.
The system is part of the French and Italian contribution to the NATO theatre missile defense architecture. It is also the first European-made interceptor system that is going to be available.
"This successful test is a milestone as it broadens the range of capabilities available for use in NATO's missile defense. The link and data transfer between the NATO command and control center in Air Command Ramstein and the SAMP/T system worked very well," said Alessandro Pera, Director of the Ballistics Missile Defense Program at the NATO Communication and Information (NCI) Agency.
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