He new Franco-Italian air defense system SAMP/T, also known as MAMBA, will be shipped this spring to Ukraine. It has been deployed in Romania since last May to defend the eastern flank of NATO.
A range of one hundred kilometers
One hundred soldiers work on this shield, located at the Capu Midia training ground, near the city of Năvodari.
It can detect targets tens of kilometers away. Its missiles have a range of one hundred kilometers.
“We are talking about a system that has been operational for almost a year,” explains Diana Sobaru, a Euronews journalist in Romania. “In the context of the Ukrainian war, it has become an extremely important weapon. It is such a complex system that it can detect any aircraft and destroy it in a few minutes.”
The effectiveness of the system, equipped with 18 missileshas been tested in allied maneuvers after the evaluation and certification of the Atlantic Alliance last summer.
Locate aircraft, missiles, fighters and helicopters
“With the system we can neutralize all kinds of aircraft, cruise missiles, fighters and helicopters. That is the mission of the system: to detect, monitor and act if necessary,” says Jean Baptiste, head of the MAMBA detachment in Romania.
Thousands of foreign soldiers have arrived at Romanian military bases over the past year. With the war so close, they train together with the Romanian army to deal with different situations in the event of an attack.
They use the American HIMARS multiple missile launcher system and the French MLRS. Romania has two air defense shields. The MAMBA and the American installed in the village of Deveselu.
