Image: SAMP/T NG ground to air defence system ©Thales
Copenhagen becomes the third nation to field the continent’s most advanced mobile ground-based air defence system, reinforcing NATO’s integrated missile shield.
Denmark has selected the SAMP/T Next Generation (NG) surface-to-air missile system to protect its airspace, making Copenhagen the third nation after France and Italy to join the SAMP/T NG community. The announcement marks the first export contract for the French variant of the system, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2028.
The contract was announced by Thales, which contributes core technology to the system. eurosam, a joint venture between Thales and MBDA, serves as prime contractor, with the Organisation Conjointe de Coopération en matière d’Armement (OCCAR) overseeing the programme.
A Radar at the Heart of the System
The Danish configuration will equip the Ground Fire 300 radar, a fully digital active electronically scanned antenna (AESA) system that entered series production in early 2025. According to Thales, the radar delivers 360° panoramic coverage, a 90° elevation angle, and a surveillance range of up to 400 km, refreshing its operational picture every second. It can simultaneously detect, track and classify multiple target types ranging from small drones and fighter aircraft to ballistic missiles, maintaining performance across difficult environments including mountainous terrain, maritime settings, dense air traffic and heavily jammed conditions. The radar recently demonstrated strong results during a qualification firing of the French version of the SAMP/T NG system.
Command, Control, and Integration
Thales also supplies the system’s command, control and fire control unit, the ME-NG (Next Generation Engagement Module), developed in partnership with MBDA. The open architecture of the ME-NG supports interoperability with other European air defence systems, strengthening the continent’s broader layered defence posture. The SAMP/T NG is natively designed to maximise performance of the Aster missile family, including the Aster 30 B1 and Aster 30 B1NT variants, for which Thales supplies the homing seeker. Rapid deployment and redeployment capability is built into the system’s design, a key survivability factor in contested environments.
Strategic Relevance
The SAMP/T NG sits at the core of SkyDefender, Thales’s multi-layer, multi-domain Integrated Air and Missile Defence framework, which incorporates the company’s cybersecurity expertise and artificial intelligence capabilities through its cortAIx AI accelerator. Denmark will also benefit from operational lessons drawn from existing SAMP/T deployments in France and Italy, including feedback from real combat conditions.
Hervé Dammann, Executive Vice-President for Land and Air Systems at Thales, said: “Thales, together with eurosam and MBDA, is honoured by the trust placed in it by the Danish authorities. The SAMP/T NG is the most advanced mobile ground-to-air defence system, designed to ensure the protection of Danish airspace and to make a decisive contribution to the defence of European nations and NATO.”
The acquisition arrives at a time of heightened European focus on air and missile defence investment, driven by ongoing instability on the continent’s eastern flank and growing NATO capability commitments among member states.
Source: Thales
