Reuters: Türkiye moves closer to acquiring SAMP/T missile shield

France is showing increased openness to a potential sale of the Franco-Italian SAMP/T air-defence system to Türkiye after years of political resistance, according to five sources familiar with the matter, creating conditions for more substantive discussions with Ankara.

Four sources said the shift in position followed talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during a summit on June 25 ahead of this week’s NATO gathering in Türkiye, although negotiations remain at an early stage, Reuters reports.

"Before, there was a clear lack of openness, now there is openness," one source familiar with the discussions said.

France’s foreign ministry declined to comment and referred inquiries to the French presidency, while the defence ministry did the same. Türkiye’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Türkiye, France and Italy launched cooperation on a possible long-range air-defence programme between 2017 and 2018, including studies focused on co-development and co-production.

However, the initiative stalled as relations between Paris and Ankara deteriorated over Syria, Libya and disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean involving Greece and Cyprus.

The SAMP/T, also known as Mamba, is produced by the Eurosam consortium, which brings together MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales. The system can track dozens of targets simultaneously, engage multiple threats at the same time and is the only European-made air-defence system that claims to be capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.

Türkiye is seeking to acquire the SAMP/T as part of its planned integrated air and missile defence network known as “Steel Dome”.

For years, Ankara has viewed France, both publicly and privately, as the principal political obstacle to advancing the programme, while Italy has long supported sharing the SAMP/T with Türkiye. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly pressed Macron at last year’s NATO summit in The Hague to reconsider his opposition to the project.

Sources stressed that France’s new openness should not be interpreted as approval of a sale. Paris still needs to address concerns in Greece and Cyprus — two countries with which France maintains strategic defence agreements — regarding any potential transfer of the system to Türkiye.

By Jeyhun Aghazada