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Dear Members and Friends,
We congratulate the Missile Defense Agency for the handover of the Aegis Ashore Site in Redzikowo, Poland to the Navy today December 15, 2023. The site is scheduled to become fully operational in March 2024 which will mark final completion of EPAA phase three. This handover signifies another significant milestone in the progress of the site, which has faced significant delays and was scheduled to be completed in 2018.
Once fully operational, ballistic missile defense coverage of all of Europe against Iranian Ballistic Missiles launched from Iran will be completed. This restricted NATO Policy capability to be not directed at Russia and only be for the Missile Defense of Iran has recently changed to drop the Russian requirement but the capabilities have not changed. Four SPY-1D(V) radar arrays coupled with a land based Vertical Launch System housing SM3 Block IB and IIA interceptors utilizes specific designed software capabilities to track, discriminate, target and intercept intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) and “limited” capability to address intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). This enables Missile Defense coverage of Northern Europe, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom from Iran.
The Aegis Ashore system in Poland will be commanded by the Ballistic Missile Defense Operations Cell in Ramstein, Germany and is integrated into to the other Aegis Ashore site in Romania, TYP 2 Radars in Turkey and Israel, and Aegis BMD Ships homeported in Rota Spain via Link 16 and CSC.
The 14-year timeline for completing this project was influenced by lessons from the Romania Aegis Ashore site and the challenges of implementing a unique system in Poland. Significant delays during the construction and installation process pushed back the timeline for the site, originally planned to become operational in 2018 and now won’t become operational until the Spring of 2024. Despite the extended timeline, the Navy plans to implement additional upgrades at Aegis Ashore Poland through May 2024, aligning its capabilities with the evolving technology of US Aegis BMD ships. With this system becoming operational, the final piece of the EPAA fully defends all of Europe against short-, medium-, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles launched from Iran will be operational in early 2024.
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