Aster (missile family)

The Aster 15 and Aster 30 are a Franco-Italian family of all-weather, vertical launch surface-to-air missiles. The name "Aster" stands for "Aérospatiale Terminale", with French company Aérospatiale having been the project's lead contractor before its missile activities were merged into MBDA. It also takes inspiration from the word "aster" (Greek: ἀστήρ), meaning "star" in Ancient Greek. The missiles as well as the related weapon systems are manufactured by Eurosam, a consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales, each holding a 33.3% share.
The Aster missiles were developed to intercept and destroy the full spectrum of air threats from high-performance combat aircraft, UAVs and helicopters to cruise, anti-radiation and even sea-skimming supersonic anti-ship missiles. The Aster 30 Block 1 and Block 1 NT are designed to also counter ballistic missiles.
The Aster is primarily operated by France and Italy, as well as the United Kingdom as an export customer, and is an integrated component of the PAAMS air defence system, known in the Royal Navy as Sea Viper. As the principal weapon of the PAAMS, the Aster equips the Horizon-class frigates in French and Italian service as well as the British Type 45 destroyers. It equips the French and Italian FREMM multipurpose frigates, though not through the PAAMS air defense suite itself but specific French and Italian derivatives of the system.
During the 1980s, the predominant missiles in Franco-Italian service were short-range systems such as the French Crotale, Italian Selenia Aspide or American Sea Sparrow, with ranges up to a dozen kilometres. Some vessels were also equipped with the American medium/long range RIM-66 Standard. France and Italy decided to start development of a domestic medium/long range surface-to-air missile to enter service in the first decade of the 21st century, that would give them comparable range but superior interception capability to the American Standard or British Sea Dart already in service.
Thought was given in particular to the new missile's ability to intercept next-generation supersonic anti-ship missiles, such as the BrahMos missile developed jointly by India and Russia. This allowed the actual systems to have the characteristic of being specialised either in short-to-medium range "point defence" for e.g. ships, or in medium-to-long range "zone defence" of fleets.
In May 1989, a memorandum of understanding was signed between France and Italy for the development of a family of future surface-to air-missiles. Eurosam was formed shortly afterwards. By July 1995 development had taken shape in the form of the Aster missile, and test firing of the first Aster 30 took place. The missile successfully intercepted a target at an altitude of 15,000 m (49,000 ft) and at speeds of 1,000 km/h (620 mph). A Phase 2 contract was awarded in 1997 at US$1 billion for pre-production and development of the French-Italian land and naval systems.
During development trials between 1993 and 1994 all flight sequences, altitudes and ranges, were validated. This was also the period during which the launch sequence of Aster 30 was validated. In May 1996, trials of the Aster 15 active electromagnetic final guidance system against live targets began. All six attempts were successful. During 1997 Aster was extensively tested, this time being pitted against targets such as the Aerospatiale C.22 target and first generation Exocet anti-ship missiles.
In numerous engagements Aster scored direct impacts on its targets. During an engagement in November 1997 in a strong countermeasures environment, the Aster was not armed with its military warhead, so that the distance between the Aster and the target could be recorded. The target, a C22, was recovered bearing two strong cuts made by the fins of the Aster missile.
In May 2001, Aster again completed the "manufacturer's validation firing test". It was deployed for the first time on the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. In June 2001, the Aster achieved a successful interception of an Arabel missile at low altitude in less than five seconds. In 2001, a target simulating an aircraft flying at speeds of Mach 1 and at an altitude of 100 m (330 ft) was intercepted by an Aster 15. The first ever operational firing of the Aster missile took place during October 2002 on board Charles de Gaulle.
In November 2003, Eurosam was awarded the 3 billion euro Phase 3 production contract. Full production and exports to France, Italy, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom started. The resulting Aster surface-to-air missile meets inter-service and international requirements, addressing the needs of the land, air and naval forces of France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The decision to base the missile around a common terminal intercept "dart" to which different sized boosters can be attached, has made it modular and extensible.
From 2002 to 2005, the Italian experimental frigate Carabiniere provided a test bed for live firing trials of the Aster 15 from Sylver A43 launchers with EMPAR and SAAM-it systems, and the trials of Aster 30 from Sylver A50 launchers with EMPAR and PAAMS(E) systems. As of 2012, France had spent €4.1bn at 2010 prices on 10 SAMP/T launchers, 375 Aster 30 missiles and 200 Aster 15 missiles. Another 80 Aster 30 and 40 Aster 15 were purchased for France's Horizon-class frigates under a separate programme.
In January 2023, the Italian and French Minister of Defense signed with MBDA a $2 billion contract for the purchase of 700 Aster missiles.
There are two versions of the Aster missile family, the short-medium range version, the Aster 15, and the long range version, the Aster 30. The missile bodies are identical. Their difference in range and intercept speed is because Aster 30 uses a much larger booster. Total weights of the Aster 15 and Aster 30 are 310 kg (680 lb) and 450 kg (990 lb) respectively.
The Aster 15 is 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) long, rising to just under 5 m (16 ft 5 in) for the Aster 30. Aster 15 has a diameter of 180 mm (7.1 in). Given the larger dimensions of the Aster 30, a naval based system requires the longer tubes of the Sylver A50 or A70 vertical launching system (VLS). The American Mark 41 Vertical Launching System can accommodate Aster 30.
The Aster 30 Block 1 is used on the Eurosam SAMP/T system operated by the French Air and Space Force and the Italian Army. In 2015, France launched the development of the Block 1NT variant, a programme Italy would join in 2016. The same year, the United Kingdom showed interest in acquiring the Block 1NT version for its Type 45 destroyers currently operating the Block 0. In 2022, the United Kingdom announced a series of upgrades to its Type 45 destroyers. This included the implementation of the Block 1 version for anti-ship ballistic missile defense.
The Aster 30 has been incorporated by Eurosam into a mobile SAM system, fulfilling the ground-based theatre air defence/protection requirement. It comes in the form of the Sol-Air Moyenne-Portée/Terrestre (French for "Surface-to-Air Medium-Range/Land-based"), abbreviated as SAMP/T. The system uses a network of radars and sensors – including 3D phased array radar – enabling it to be effective against various air threats such as aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, standoff missiles, cruise missiles or anti-radiation missiles.
The SAMP/T uses an upgraded version of the Arabel long range radar, developed under the Aster 30 Block 1 upgrade program, in order to extend the system's capability against higher speed and higher altitude targets. The Aster 30 Block 1 can intercept missiles with a 600 km (370 mi) range (short-range ballistic missiles).
SAMP/T NG uses either the Kronos Grand Mobile High Power or the Ground Fire 300 AESA radars. SAMP/T NG will be delivered from 2025.
In May 2023, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that France and Italy had jointly delivered a SAMP/T air defense system to Ukraine. In June 2024, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced that Italy would be sending a second SAMP/T system to Ukraine. The date of arrival was not announced. On 11 March 2025, Ukrainian Air Force Colonel Yurii Ihnat stated that the SAMP/T had downed a Russian Sukhoi military aircraft, among other targets. He did not provide any further details. In March 2025, according to the Corriere della Sera, Ukraine had practically run out of Aster missiles, and was asking Italy and France for replenishment.
In 2024, during Operation Aspides, it is likely that the French Navy utilised Aster 30 to intercept three Houthi ballistic missiles. The missile was also likely used by the Royal Navy to down another Houthi ballistic missile in April 2024.
One SAMP/T battery delivered jointly by France and Italy in 2023. The future delivery of another battery by Italy was announced in June 2024.