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Faced with ever faster and stealthier aerial targets, which use a range of highly variable trajectories in an intense electronic counter-measures environment, medium range surface-to-air systems currently in service are beginning to show their limitations.Most existing air defence systems are also dedicated to just one particular role:

  either short and medium range "point defence" (a ship, for example),
  or medium and long range "zone defence" (a fleet, for example).

The purpose of the FSAF programme (family of future air defence missiles) developed by the main european actors of missile industry (MBDA, THALES) gathered within the EUROSAM EIG and managed by OCCAR, is therefore to meet the following requirements:

  "Naval self-defence", with the Surface-Air Anti-Missile (SAAM) system using the Aster 15 missile, which is to enter service on the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier (among others). With the Aster 15 SAAM, we are therefore seeking to broaden the traditional naval defence at short or even very short range to a broader task of extended self-defence,to provide protection for a neighbouring vessel, including more efficiency new generation anti-ship missiles.

  "Terrestrial zone defence", with the medium range air defence (SAMP/T) system using the Aster 30 missile. In this case, the aim is to broaden terrestrial zone defence to provide it with a capability to take on all modern flying target types including ballistic tactical missiles and cruise missiles. From 2008 onward, the SAMP/T will thereforeprovide air defence for the battle group and for air bases.

The FSAF programme is based upon a new family of anti-missile and anti-aircraft missiles known as Aster (respectively Aster 15 for the SAAM and Aster 30 for the SAMP/T), which have the advantage of being:

  joint-service, meeting the requirements of the three services: Army, Air Force and Navy;
  multinational, with development through French-Italian cooperation;
  modular and extendible, to cover all joint-service air defence requirements of the 21st century.