The United States will deliver SM-3 interceptor missiles to Poland between 2015 and 2018 as part of NATO’s plan to defend its allies in Europe from possible threats from Iran, said Polish defense ministry spokesman Janusz Sejmej on Thursday.
The interceptors offer defense against medium- and long-range ballistic missiles. The interceptors are part of President Obama’s revamped missile defense system that replaced President Bush’s antimissile shield project for Poland and the Czech Republic.
In September 2009, President Barack Obama canceled the shield project over Moscow’s protestations that it amounted to a threat at their doorstep.
Meanwhile, the first battery of the U.S. surface-to-air Patriot missiles has been deployed at the base in Morag, about 40 miles from the Russian border. An American unit consisting of more than 100 U.S. troops will train their counterparts to use the missile system.
The Patriot missiles were transported to Poland in May, via railway from a U.S. base in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The system is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defense system, designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and advanced aircrafts.
The move has irritated Russia. An unnamed Russian foreign ministry official said that placing the shield in Poland will not bring security to the region, reported Russian news agency ITAR-TASS.
Polish officials insist that deployment is not a threat, but rather part of their ongoing military development since the country joined NATO in 1999, a decade after the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Krakow, Poland, this weekend, both governments are expected to sign the amendments to the stalled 2008 missile shield agreement.
The interceptors offer defense against medium- and long-range ballistic missiles. The interceptors are part of President Obama’s revamped missile defense system that replaced President Bush’s antimissile shield project for Poland and the Czech Republic.
In September 2009, President Barack Obama canceled the shield project over Moscow’s protestations that it amounted to a threat at their doorstep.
Meanwhile, the first battery of the U.S. surface-to-air Patriot missiles has been deployed at the base in Morag, about 40 miles from the Russian border. An American unit consisting of more than 100 U.S. troops will train their counterparts to use the missile system.
The Patriot missiles were transported to Poland in May, via railway from a U.S. base in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The system is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather air defense system, designed to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and advanced aircrafts.
The move has irritated Russia. An unnamed Russian foreign ministry official said that placing the shield in Poland will not bring security to the region, reported Russian news agency ITAR-TASS.
Polish officials insist that deployment is not a threat, but rather part of their ongoing military development since the country joined NATO in 1999, a decade after the collapse of the Iron Curtain.
When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visits Krakow, Poland, this weekend, both governments are expected to sign the amendments to the stalled 2008 missile shield agreement.
