After pitching Rafale fighter jets as an alternative to American F-35s, France is now promoting the joint Franco-Italian Samp/T Air Defense system as an alternative to the US-made Patriot AD system.
Ever since US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year, and his policy flip-flops on Ukraine, coupled with his mixed signals on commitment to European defense, French President Emmanuel Macron has made repeated calls to “buy European.”
After pitching the Rafale fighter jets to a host of Western countries that are reviewing their F-35 orders, France is now positioning its Samp/T AD system to challenge the near-dominance enjoyed by Patriots.
At stake are potential deals worth billions of dollars. The Ukraine war and the recent Russian offensive involving hundreds of drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities every night have once again underlined the criticality of robust air defense systems.
Last month, NATO members in Europe committed to increasing their defense spending to a whopping 3.5% of GDP from the current 2% of GDP. This could bring in an additional US$330 billion in annual defense spending. A good portion of this increased defense budget would go toward buying new AD systems.

A host of European countries, from Denmark to Belgium, and from Portugal to the UK, are expected to upgrade their AD systems this year.
And Macron is determined to secure at least some of the orders for the SAMP/T SAMs by pitching it as not only a fully European AD system, but also as a better alternative to Patriots.
Macron’s Pitch For Samp/T AD System
The Samp/T AD system was displayed at the Paris Air Show in June.
Earlier in March, Macron said in an interview, “Those who buy Patriot should be offered the new-generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35, should be offered the Rafale. That’s the way to increase the rate of production.”
Macron reiterated his calls to “buy European” during a speech in Dresden, part of a three-day visit to Germany in May.
Samp/T Vs Patriots
During the recent Paris Air Show, Eric Tabacchi, a military consultant with Eurosam, the maker of the Samp/T AD system, pointed out that its new radar rotated once every second, peering over 220 miles in the sky.
Furthermore, the Samp/T provided 360-degree coverage.
“The Patriot has nothing like this,” Tabacchi was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.
Eurosam asserts that the system provides 360-degree protection, can detect targets up to 350 km, and can annihilate air-breathing targets up to 150 km. The system detects and intercepts maneuvering ballistic missiles beyond 600 km.
The system has up to 48 Aster missiles ready for launch, one multi-function radar, and up to 6 launchers capable of carrying eight missiles each.
The system is highly mobile due to its compact and mobile design. It is more cost-effective and compact, but availability may be limited depending on production rates.
On the other hand, Patriot has a long history of deployment. It is considered to be highly effective against ballistic missiles and aircraft, but its current configuration has limited 360-degree radar coverage. It is armed with PAC-3 MSE missiles, which are highly effective against ballistic missiles but less versatile than the Aster 30.

Due to its larger and more complex setup, it is relatively less mobile than SAMP/T NG. The system is more manpower-intensive but has a proven track record in various conflicts.
Eurosam, a 50:50 joint venture between MBDA and Thales, claims that the new, upgraded Samp/T has many features that will surpass those of the Patriot. These features include a new radar with 360-degree protection of the surrounding skies, and canisters that rise to a vertical rather than slanted position, enabling it to fire missiles in all directions.
Furthermore, Tabacchi said, the Samp/T system can be set up by as few as 15 people, whereas the US Army currently uses 90 soldiers for one Patriot battery.
In short, the SAMP/T NG is suitable for high mobility, diverse threat handling, and cost efficiency. On the other hand, the Patriot excels in ballistic missile defense, proven reliability, and global integration.
However, despite these claimed advantages, Patriots enjoy a near-monopoly in the European AD market.
The original Samp/T has been sold only to France and Italy, the countries that manufacture this AD system. A modified version has been sold to Singapore. Since entering service in 2011, the Samp/T has logged 18 full orders. Two batteries of Samp/T have been donated to Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Olena Kondratiuk announced that Ukraine will receive its third battery of the European SAMP/T air defense system this October.
In contrast, the US-made Patriot has received over 240 orders from 19 countries. A host of European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Romania, and Switzerland, also use the Patriot AD system.
Patriots’ reputation has also been strengthened in Ukraine, where they have taken out Russian ballistic and even hypersonic missiles.
However, in recent months, the more maneuverable Russian missiles have been able to evade Patriots’ radars.
Europe is a lucrative market for American defense products, particularly in the field of combat jets and AD systems.
According to the SIPRI 2025 report, the US remains the world’s largest defense exporter by a large margin.
The US supplies 43% of the world’s defense export needs. France is a distant second with a 9.6% share.
The US defense establishment is confident that, despite the rhetoric of European ‘self-reliance’ in defense products, it has not seen any substantial evidence of European countries scaling back their imports of US defense systems.
For instance, the UK recently put follow-up orders for F-35 fighter jets. Meanwhile, Germany is also considering ordering more F-35s.
To what extent the Franco-Italian Samp/T AD system will be able to challenge the US-made Patriot system remains to be seen.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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