In its Twitter account December 27, 2022, , Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Italy will provide an additional €10 million of aid to Ukraine including air defense systems. Previously, Army Recognition reported that Italy planned to deliver SAMP/T, an air defense missile system produced by the company MBDA. It is believed that the shipment will comprise surplus SPADA SAM batteries
On December 28, 2022, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto announced that the Italian Government is busy thinking about the possibility to deliver air defense systems coming from the military inventory of the Italian army. This new delivery of weapons to Ukraine should be made in accordance with the current operational needs of the Italian army, and above all not to weaken the country’s defense capabilities.
On December 13, 2022, the French Newspaper “Challenges” published that Paris and Rome accepted Kyiv’s request for the SAMP/T Mamba medium-range air defense missile systems manufactured by MBDA and Thales within the Eurosam joint venture. It is Italy that should deliver one of its five systems, according to the French ambassador to Ukraine Etienne de Poncins quoted by Challenges. But let us make it clear: at this stage of the discussion, the sending of Mamba system(s) has not yet been officially confirmed.