The Aegis Ashore land-based missile defense system, built by the United States in Redzikowo, northern Poland, will be inaugurated in the coming weeks. This was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic, Radoslaw Sikorski, on September 11 on the Radio Rebeliant station.
“In the coming weeks we will open a missile defense base in Redzikowo, near Slupsk.” – he pointed out.
Sikorsky also added that he managed to reach an agreement with the US authorities for this missile defense system to shoot down not only Iranian missiles flying towards the United States, but also Russian missiles heading towards Poland.
Previously, on July 11, NATO announced the full operational availability of Aegis Ashore in Poland. As indicated by the alliance, the system will help increase the organization’s missile defense potential in the European region, complementing existing bases in Romania, Spain and Türkiye.
The Aegis Ashore facility in Redzikowo is part of the EPAA (European Phased Adaptive Approach) program for the gradual deployment of missile defense system components in Europe.
The idea of creating a pan-European air defense was first put forward by Scholz in August 2022. In October of the same year, 14 NATO countries signed a declaration on the creation of a more advanced European air defense system – the European initiative SkyShield.
Subsequently, on October 11, 2023, the defense ministers of 10 NATO countries signed a memorandum of understanding on their future development. In total, 21 countries have currently joined the program, Izvestia recalls.
