Poland and the US Sign Missile Defense Agreement
Today in Warsaw, Poland, the Republic of Poland signed an agreement with the United States of America to host 10 U.S. two-stage ground-based missile defense interceptors that will defend and protect NATO and the United States from long range ballistic missiles.
Poland received for compensation a strategic partnership with the United States that includes a permanent presence of US personnel to operate the missile defense site in Poland and a rotational permanent presence of one United States Patriot missile defense battery stationed currently in Germany. The Patriot battery includes five launchers, Patriot missiles and the US military Army soldiers that man the battery for short-range ballistic missile defense protection of NATO.
The United States with this agreement alongside the European Midcourse Radar agreement signed with the Czech Republic on July 8th will provide NATO and most of Europe and its population protection for the first time against long-range ballistic missiles. The European Missile Defense system will integrate and assist current and future NATO missile defense assets that would include Aegis, Air Defense Command Frigates and Type 45 Destroyers sea based systems, THAAD, MEADS, Patriot ground based systems, Tactical Transport Radars and forward based radars to provide a layered shield of missile defense protection against all ranges of ballistic missiles to Europe and NATO.
The 10 two-stage Ground Based Missiles, the silos and the construction of the missile site is to be located on the Redzikovo Polish military base outside of Slupska and close to the Baltic Sea in northern Poland. The United States Army Corps of Engineers stationed in Europe will begin construction in the next 12-18 months with the first deployed defensive missile to be on alert in 2012, and the remaining defensive missiles to be on full alert by 2015. The two-stage ground based missile is the same missile without the third stage as the current ground-based defensive missiles deployed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California and Fort Greely, Alaska. The two-stage ground based defensive missiles will complete their testing and verification by the US Department of Defense before the first missile is deployed in 2012.
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