The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GOA) informed that the construction of the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) in the US Navy’s Naval Support Facility (NSF) in Redzikowo, Poland, is delayed. The project requires an appropriation of additional financial resources.
The construction of the Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System (AAMDS) in Poland will be delayed due to budgetary constraints. A similar installation in Romania has been operational for a couple of years now / Picture: NATO
According to GAO’s report, the AAMDS site in Poland should become operational not earlier that in 2022. Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), vice-admiral Jon Hill, informed that the construction cost increased by 13%, which means that additional $96 million will have to be allocated to the project. In result, the general cost of the Aegis Ashore programme in Poland will exceed $844 million.
Originally, it was expected that the AAMDS installation in Redzikowo will reach Initial Operational Capability (IAC) by mid-2018. In August 2019 it was announced, that the site will become operational by the end of 2020.
MDA states on its website that the ‘Aegis Ashore is part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) Phases II and III’. The system will be ‘installed in Poland as part of EPAA Phase III. This deployed capability will use Aegis Baseline (B/L) 9.B2 (BMD 5.1) and SM-3 Blocks IB and IIA to support additional defense of Europe’.