Billions are at stake: why is the United States deploying Aegis missile defense systems in Eastern Europe?

The Pentagon has begun the final stage of the deployment of elements of the American missile defense system Aegis Ashore (Aegis) in Poland. Four SPY-1D (V) radars and a fire control system have already been deployed under Redzikovo. In the United States, this is called the "anti-missile shield" of Europe, but in reality it is a "sword" capable of delivering a missile strike up to the "ridge of Russia", the Urals. But why is Washington so openly provoking Moscow?

Note that the United States began its destructive activities to destroy the balance of nuclear deterrence in the Old World at the turn of the "dashing" nineties and "zero", long before the Crimea and Donbass. In 1999, Bill Clinton signed a law on the development of a national missile defense system necessary to protect the so-called "rogue states" from long-range missiles. In 2001, George W. Bush announced that this system would protect not only the United States itself, but also its allies, and a year later the "hegemon" unilaterally withdrew from the 1972 ABM Treaty.



I wonder how all this was justified then. Europe allegedly needed to be protected from ICBMs launched from North Africa or the Middle East. Iran was named as the main threat, as well as, for some reason, North Korea. Why would Tehran or Pyongyang fight Europe and the entire NATO bloc, of course, was not deciphered. And it’s a no brainer that the American missile defense system was directed exclusively against Russia, the second most powerful nuclear power in the world. However, the United States and its European allies hypocritically pretended not to understand what was at stake. Washington chose the Czech Republic, Romania and Poland as partners for the deployment of elements of the anti-missile system. True, in the end, Prague wisely left this project. However, Bucharest and Warsaw agreed to host the elements of Aegis Ashore, and with great joy.

What is the European missile defense system? In fact, it is much wider than it seems at first glance. It includes, oddly enough, Turkey. An early warning AN / TPY-2 radar station is located near the Turkish settlement of Kurecik, which protects NATO from the "Iranian threat." The American radar station controls the airspace of the Islamic Republic, however, by coincidence, it was installed on the site of the radar that monitored the USSR during the Cold War. Also, the southern flank of Europe is covered by four US Navy destroyers equipped with interceptor missiles, which are located off the coast of Spain. The European missile defense command center is located in Germany at the famous Ramstein base. Romania has already deployed the Aegis Ashore complex, which operates 24 Standard SM-3 BlockIB missiles. And now it's Poland's turn.

The construction of military infrastructure near the Polish Redzikovo faced a lot of difficulties. It began in 2016 and was supposed to end in 2018, but the base has not yet been fully completed. The Americans decided to install weapons without waiting for complete completion. The general contractor chosen by the Pentagon could not cope with the terms of reference, delayed the deadline, his subcontractors were suing him. During this time, some elements of the control system have even become outdated. He contributed to the delayed deadlines and COVID-19. As a result, the missile defense base in Poland has already cost about twice as much as the initial estimate. For the next fiscal year, the US military intends to ask for an additional $ 43,3 million for the completion of the Polish Aegis Ashore and the modernization of the Romanian one.

All this "defensive" activity in Eastern and Central Europe causes great discontent in Moscow, and for some reason Tehran and Pyongyang are not worried at all. Perhaps because it does not concern them at all in principle. But for Russia, the appearance of Aegis Ashore on the western borders is a very real threat. The fact is that this is a dual-use complex. Yes, the presence of an American missile defense system in Europe reduces the potential for a retaliatory nuclear strike by the Russian Defense Ministry in the event of an aggression by the United States. But these are not all of our problems.

Literally within 2 hours, even less, it can be reloaded by replacing anti-aircraft missiles with Tomahawk cruise missiles with a flight range of up to 2019 thousand kilometers. These missiles, by the way, have a modification equipped with a nuclear warhead. We add that Washington safely left the INF Treaty and now nothing can prevent it from deploying intermediate and shorter-range nuclear missiles in Eastern Europe. And there are already universal launchers for them, in Romania and Poland. This means that the Pentagon, under the guise of fighting the "Iranian threat", has created a dual-use military bridgehead in the Old World, which can be used for a preemptive strike against Russia, or rather, the infrastructure of the Russian Defense Ministry. Naturally, all these provocative activities of the Americans caused concern on the part of Moscow. In XNUMX, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov made the following statement:


Recall that President Putin at one time even suggested that the Americans create a joint missile defense system in Europe, using a radar station in Azerbaijan for this, if we admit it as a realistic version of the "Iranian threat". Vladimir Kozin, a member of the expert council under the Russian presidential administration for cooperation with NATO in the field of missile defense, commented on the situation as follows:


Of course, no one was interested in Vladimir Putin's proposal. The real target of Aegis Ashore in Europe is Russia. But are several dozen Tomahawks capable of presenting a critical threat to our country, even with a nuclear warhead? Yes, these missiles are dangerous because of the drastically reduced flight time. Yes, they have a great anti-satellite potential against the orbital group of the RF Ministry of Defense. But, probably, the main purpose of Aegis Ashore in Romania and Poland is still to provoke the Kremlin and drag Russia into an arms race. It's like a phone call with a message about a school bomb. The competent authorities are obliged to respond and check, even if it is clear that this is being played around by children who have not prepared for the test. So it is here: there is a new threat, which means that Shoigu's department is forced to stop it.

Already now, the RF Ministry of Defense had to deploy Iskander-M missile launchers on the territory of the Kaliningrad region, apparently designed to destroy elements of the US anti-missile system in Poland. If the Pentagon does indeed deploy its Tomahawks in Eastern Europe, Russia will have to hastily rebuild its missile defense system and symmetrically deploy medium-range missiles on its western borders. And this means large additional military expenditures. The Americans will only applaud this, pointing a finger in the direction of the "aggressive Russians" and encourage the Europeans to increase their defense spending through NATO. As a matter of fact, for the sake of a new round of the arms race, designed to enrich the US military-industrial complex, all this is being undertaken.