Rutte: ‘The Italian and French Aster 30s are fantastic.’ Missiles with a range of over 120 km
They are deployed both on board naval vessels (such as the PAAMS naval systems on board Horizon-class or FREMM-class destroyers) and in mobile land-based systems, such as the SAMP/T missile system (which is also used by the Italian Air Force and the French Armée de l’air)
Key points
Speaking at the Euronews Defence & Space Summit 2026, whilst emphasising the need to increase European and American defence production, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stressed that ‘the problem right now is that we are not producing enough. ‘Look at Ukraine. We have the Italian and French Aster 30 systems, which are fantastic. We have the American Patriot systems. But,’ added the head of the Atlantic Alliance, ‘neither is being produced in sufficient quantities.’
Advanced missile systems
The Aster 30 (and, more specifically, the Aster family of missiles) are advanced European-built surface-to-air and ground-to-air missile systems, developed by the Eurosam consortium (comprising MBDA and Thales).
Medium- to long-range air defence
They are designed for medium- to long-range air defence and are capable of intercepting a wide range of threats with high speed and precision, including fighter aircraft, drones, cruise missiles and short- to medium-range ballistic missiles.
The difference between the 15 and 30 models
The name ‘30’ refers to the long-range version, which is fitted with a large booster that gives it a very long range (over 120 kilometres) and high interception altitudes (up to around 20 km), compared with the more compact Aster 15 (used for medium-range missions).
Manoeuvrability
They utilise a combination of inertial guidance with radar data updates during the initial and intermediate flight phases, and an active radio-frequency radar seeker during the terminal phase. Thanks to PIF-PAF technology (a lateral propulsion system combined with standard aerodynamic flight surfaces), they can perform extremely sharp turns and evade targets’ evasive manoeuvres.
