Ukraine Gets Air Defense Boost From NATO Ally

Ukraine will soon be receiving a new NATO air defense system as allies scramble to fortify Kyiv against Russia's unfolding summer offensive.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told the Rai state broadcaster on Monday: "It is known that we will send SAMP/T, which is an instrument of air defense, therefore of protection, that Ukraine itself asked us for."

It will be the second such system—which is also known as the MAMBA—sent to the country since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Reuters reported—citing an unnamed source—that the new system would likely be the one currently deployed in Kuwait, which is soon due to return to Italy.

The SAMP/T can engage targets out to a range of around 65 miles and at an altitude of approximately 15 miles. It can intercept ballistic missiles out to around 22 miles and at an altitude of some 15 miles. The first such system was sent to Ukraine in 2023. In February, Rome ordered four more of the platforms to augment its five existing systems.

The Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper reported on Monday that the SAMP/T system will be provided as part of Italy's eighth military aid package for Ukraine. This is set to be approved after the G7 summit taking place in Italy in mid-June. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning to take part in the event—either in person or virtually—his spokesperson said on Monday.

The head of Zelensky's office, Andriy Yermak, noted in a Telegram post on Tuesday that Rome would be providing an additional SAMP/T system. All military supplies provided by Italy are officially classified, and the government in Rome has largely refrained from providing details on what weapons and how many it has sent to Ukraine.

Ukraine has been pressing its Western partners for more air defense systems as it sustains repeated attacks by Russian drones and long-range ballistic missiles on cities nationwide.

The security situation has also deteriorated along the front line—and in cities close to the fighting such as Kharkiv—due to Moscow's increased use of satellite-guided glide bombs. These can be dropped by aircraft on Ukrainian positions from up to 40 miles away; largely out of reach of Kyiv's defenses.

Zelensky said in March that his nation had only around a quarter of the air defense systems required for adequate national defense. The country would need 25 new Patriot air defense systems or equivalents to ensure full coverage, the president added.

Ukraine may be able to hunt offending Russian aircraft more effectively in the coming months as new air defense systems arrive, and as Western nations ease restrictions on targeting Moscow's forces within their own borders.

Even before the U.S. announced its approval for Ukrainian strikes within Russian regions close to the fighting in Kharkiv, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hinted at a change in policy regarding shooting down enemy aircraft operating over Russian territory, saying that the "aerial dynamic's a little bit different."

Still, Tajani said on Monday that Rome supports neither NATO boots on the ground nor the cross-border use of its weapons. "We have only said that we will not send soldiers to Ukraine and that Italian weapons cannot be used in Russia," he told Rai.

The Kremlin has been bullish on the arrival of new Western weapons inside Ukraine, and the prospect of their use within Russian borders and airspace.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov hit out last week at what he called "a policy of provoking a new level of tensions." NATO nations, he added, "intend to continue the war" with Russia, "a war in the literal and figurative sense."

"This will, of course, will inevitably entail its consequences. It will ultimately be very harmful to the interests of those countries which have opted for the path of escalation," Peskov added.

"The North Atlantic Alliance's member-countries, the United States in particular, other European capitals in recent days and weeks were coming close to a new round of escalating tensions. They are doing this on purpose."

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