Italy mulls delivery of another SAMP/T system to Ukraine, says source

ROME — Italy is considering sending a second SAMP/T air defense battery to Ukraine following pressure from allies to beef up arms deliveries to the war-torn country, a source has told Defense News.

“The Defence Ministry is keen, but a decision must be made by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. It is on her desk and the choice could be made in a week or two,” according to the political source with knowledge of the deliberations, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.

The battery Italy would send is based in Kuwait and is one of five now operated by Italy, after one was sent to Ukraine last year.

The Italian government has been cautious about sending a second battery given the few it possesses, but Ukraine has requested the supply of such weapons to defend itself against Russian missile attacks .

“There has been enormous political pressure on Italy to donate a second battery, but it is a tough decision because it leaves Italy with little redundancy,” said Alessandro Marrone, a defense expert at the Rome-based think tank IAI.

The government recently stationed one battery in Slovakia as part of a NATO program, and another is due to be set up in June in southern Italy to protect a G7 summit.

Entering service with the Italian Army in 2013, the SAMP/T is a truck-based, tactical anti-missile system designed to defend against cruise and tactical ballistic missiles as well as piloted aircraft and drones.

The Italian Parliament is due to vote for another package of arms to be sent to Ukraine, having already reportedly sent Stinger missiles and PzH 2000 howitzers. And comments made last month by Britain’s defense minister about Italy sending Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine made headlines in Italy.

But as with previous consignments, the government will likely not reveal to the public nor members of Parliament the exact list of weapons.

The prime minister has strongly backed Ukraine’s military campaign to oust Russian forces from its territory, but the government’s reticence to list dispatched weapons follows criticism from voters and political parties, including the opposition Five Star Party and Meloni’s own coalition ally, the League.

“It is outrageous that Parliament knows nothing, that only we keep this secret in Europe,” said Francesco Silvestri, a Five Star member of parliament.

During a meeting in Rome this week with Meloni, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg thanked Italy for sending the first SAMP/T battery to Ukraine last year. He also reportedly encouraged Italy to increase its defense spending. Italy has in recent years boosted spending, albeit reaching 1.38% of gross domestic product, which falls below the 2% goal set by the alliance for all members.

After his meeting with Meloni, Stoltenberg told Italian daily La Repubblica that “Italy has the ambition to grow and get in line with the others.”

Marrone noted that in 2022, Parliament voted to reach the 2% mark by 2028, “but the government is not increasing defense spending enough to do it.”

During her meeting with Stoltenberg, Meloni asked for NATO to focus on helping Italy increase security along its southern flank, meaning the North African coast facing it across the Mediterranean Sea.

Earlier this week, Meloni visited Libya , where she asked Gen. Khalifa Hifter, the strongman running the eastern part of the country, to reduce the number of Russian military personnel there. Russia is currently using eastern Libya as a staging post to reinforce its growing presence in Africa, while Hifter relies on Moscow to strengthen his hand against a rival government in western Libya.

Wolfram Lacher, a Libya expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs think tank, said it’s unlikely Hifter will take advice from Meloni.

“Hifter needs the Russians; their presence is central to the balance of power in Libya and to his deterrence against challengers. Meloni has nothing to offer that could remotely replace what Hifter gets from Russia, nor does she have any leverage that could prompt him to rid himself of the Russian presence,” Lacher said.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——据《防务新闻》报道，一位消息人士透露，在盟友施压要求加大对饱受战争蹂躏的乌克兰的武器供应后，意大利正在考虑向乌克兰派遣第二套 SAMP/T 防空系统。

一位了解相关讨论的政治消息人士透露：“国防部对此很感兴趣，但最终决定权在总理乔治娅·梅洛尼手中。该议题已摆在她办公桌上，可能在一两周内做出选择。” 由于话题敏感，该消息人士要求匿名。

意大利将要派出的电池位于科威特，是意大利目前运营的五座电池之一，去年意大利还向乌克兰派出了一座。

鉴于意大利拥有的导弹数量有限，意大利政府一直对派遣第二套导弹系统持谨慎态度，但乌克兰已请求提供此类武器以防御俄罗斯的导弹袭击。

“意大利面临着巨大的政治压力，要求其捐赠第二套导弹系统，但这是一个艰难的决定，因为这会让意大利的冗余度很低，”罗马智库 IAI 的国防专家亚历山德罗·马罗内说。

政府最近在斯洛伐克部署了一个炮兵连，作为北约计划的一部分；另一个炮兵连将于 6 月在意大利南部部署，以保护七国集团峰会。

SAMP/T 于 2013 年在意大利陆军服役，是一款基于卡车的战术反导系统，旨在防御巡航导弹、战术弹道导弹以及有人驾驶飞机和无人机。

意大利议会即将就另一批向乌克兰输送武器进行投票表决，据报道，意大利此前已向乌克兰运送了“毒刺”导弹和PzH 2000榴弹炮。此外，英国国防大臣上个月关于意大利向乌克兰输送“风暴之影”导弹的言论在意大利引起了广泛关注。

但与以往的运送行动一样，政府很可能不会向公众或议员透露武器的确切清单。

总理一直大力支持乌克兰向俄罗斯军队撤出其领土的军事行动，但政府不愿列出已交付的武器清单，这遭到了选民和各政党的批评，其中包括反对派五星党和梅洛尼自己的执政联盟盟友联盟党。

“令人愤慨的是，议会对此一无所知，只有我们欧洲人保守着这个秘密，”五星运动党议员弗朗切斯科·西尔维斯特里说道。

本周在罗马与意大利外长梅洛尼会晤期间，北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格感谢意大利去年向乌克兰交付了首套SAMP/T导弹系统。据报道，他还鼓励意大利增加国防开支。近年来，意大利已提高了国防开支，但其占国内生产总值（GDP）的比例仅为1.38%，低于北约为所有成员国设定的2%的目标。

在与梅洛尼会面后，斯托尔滕贝格告诉意大利日报《共和国报》：“意大利有发展壮大并与其他国家接轨的雄心壮志。”

马龙指出，2022 年议会投票决定到 2028 年将国防开支提高到 2%，但“政府并没有增加足够的国防开支来实现这一目标”。

在与斯托尔滕贝格的会面中，梅洛尼要求北约重点帮助意大利加强其南部侧翼的安全，即隔地中海与意大利相望的北非海岸。

本周早些时候，梅洛尼访问了利比亚，她要求控制该国东部的强人哈夫塔尔将军减少驻扎在利比亚的俄罗斯军事人员数量。俄罗斯目前正利用利比亚东部作为中转站，以加强其在非洲日益增长的影响力，而哈夫塔尔则依靠莫斯科的力量来对抗利比亚西部的敌对政府。

德国国际与安全事务研究所的利比亚问题专家沃尔夫拉姆·拉赫尔表示，哈夫塔尔不太可能听取梅洛尼的建议。

拉彻表示：“哈夫塔尔需要俄罗斯人；他们的存在对利比亚的权力平衡至关重要，也是他威慑挑战者的关键。梅洛尼没有任何东西可以取代哈夫塔尔从俄罗斯那里得到的东西，她也没有任何筹码可以促使他摆脱俄罗斯的影响。”

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。