London. October 20. INTERFAX - The United States will commission a second missile defense (ABM) base in Europe, the creation of which is being completed in northern Poland near the village of Redzikovo, 165 km from the Russian border, in the coming months, according to data from the US Defense Defense Agency.
The official commissioning of this missile defense base is expected in the 2022 fiscal year, which began in the United States on October 1, as part of the 3rd phase of the implementation of the program for building a phased adaptive European missile defense system (EPAA Phase III).
As the Missile Defense Agency reported, at the end of June, the United States has already begun deploying SM-3 IIA ground-based Aegis missiles at the Redzikovo base.
"The installation of weapons of the Aegis ground-based missile defense system in Poland has begun," the message said.
According to the agency, in March, the SPY-1D(V) radar and the fire control system (FCS) were completed and tested at the Redzikovo base.
According to the latest data, the project for the construction of a ground-based missile defense base is about 98-99% ready.
The American missile defense base in Poland is designed to detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles. The United States claims that, despite its location near the Russian borders, it is not capable of undermining Russia's military-strategic potential. Washington has repeatedly stated that the missile defense base in Poland will serve to defend Western Europe, in particular, from Iranian missiles.
In 2016, the first American ground-based Aegis missile defense base in Europe has already started operating in the Deveselu area in Romania.
Aegis ground bases in Romania and Poland, together with four US Navy missile defense destroyers permanently stationed in Spain, are integral parts of the program for building a European phased adaptive European missile defense system.
The naval component of the system, in particular, includes the destroyers Roosevelt, Porter, Ross and Arleigh Burke, which are permanently stationed in Europe at the Spanish naval base in Rota. These ships have repeatedly entered the Black Sea for patrolling.
