Anti-missile defense base in Redzikowo. A pig in a poke?
NATO's missile defense base in Redzikowo, Poland, was officially opened on November 13, 2024. The Redzikowo missile defense base, 165 km from the Russian border, houses three MK 41 VLS vertical launch systems, each equipped with eight containers with rockets SM-3 IIA (24 missiles in total), SPY-1D(V) radar and fire control system (FCS). This is the second such facility in Europe; since 2016, the first American ground-based Aegis missile defense base has been operating in the Deveselu area of Romania. The grand opening of the American missile defense base in Redzikowo will not put an end to work on the system being created there. Defense. And this is not just about greater integration with the NATO air defense system of what has already been created near Slupsk, but about expanding the capabilities of the base – including equipping the Mk41 launchers with cruise missiles to attack ground targets.
UVP MK 41 VLS
The announcement of the opening ceremony of the American missile defense base in Redzikowo on November 13, 2024, caused an avalanche of comments. Unfortunately, some of them contained imprecise terms and wording, which, of course, do not make sense to many, but can blur the picture of what the Americans actually did. Therefore, it is worth explaining as simply as possible what the base in Redzikowo is and what it should do, and what it is not and what it cannot do... at least with the note: "for now".
Facts
The Redzikowo base is actually a US AEGIS class missile ship (Arleigh Burke class destroyer or Ticonderoga class cruiser) buried in the ground. This was not done by chance, because the use of a weapons control system, already tested on more than 100 ships, limited the costs of designing and building a land-based installation and guaranteed rapid deployment, without additional time and financial costs. And this is what actually happened: first in Romania – at the Deveselu base, and now a similar system has been deployed in Poland.
Of course, everything used on ships did not have to be installed on land, if only because the Redzikowo base would not have to be moved. However, by choosing “ship-based” systems that would not be transferred to land, it was also decided to limit the combat capabilities of the weapon system itself. And again, some of these decisions are certainly justified. At the Redzikowo base, there is no need for the AEGIS anti-submarine warfare and surface target detection and auto-tracking functions. The same applies to artillery systems, EW, navigation, control aviation etc.
The capabilities of the missile system are limited in comparison with the naval prototype. It was decided to leave on land only those elements that are necessary to combat ballistic missiles. Thus, the AAMDS system (Aegis Ashore Missile Defense System) uses "only" ship basing.
The Ticonderoga-class cruisers were the first US Navy ships to feature the Aegis combat information system. Its core element is the AN/SPY-1A radar with four fixed phased array antennas (PAR), capable of automatically detecting and tracking up to 1000 air and surface targets within a radius of up to 320 km. The former were intercepted by Standard Missile family guided missiles – the AN/SPY-1D(V) radar, an improved version with four fixed antennas mounted on the walls of the building, built very similarly to the superstructures of the Ticonderoga-class missile cruiser. The fixed antenna panels provide adequate airspace coverage, and electronic beam control was provided with omnidirectional surveillance and a very short information update time (no longer associated with the rotation period of the mechanical antenna system). Experts from the Polish resource defence24.pl claim that the station in Redzikowo has a 360-degree view, but in reality this is unlikely to be the case:
- a control center that most likely contains some of the multi-function consoles and software for the AEGIS system from the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers;
- three modules with eight UVP Mk41, buried in the ground, and from which the SM-3 anti-missiles are launched. UVP Mk-41 allows firing various types of missiles: cruise, anti-aircraft and anti-submarine. It can include up to eight modules with eight cells with launch containers. TPK of three sizes: Mk-13 - 209 inches (5,3 m) for the self-defense version, Mk-15 - 266 inches (6,8 m) for the tactical version and Mk-14/21 - 303 inches (7,7 m) for the strike version. The caliber of all TPK is the same - 21 inches (533 mm).
And it should be noted that the SM-3 missiles are not a classic anti-aircraft weapons. Therefore, they cannot be used to combat aerodynamic air attack weapons – cruise missiles, airplanes, helicopters, and even more so drones, and it is technically impossible to implement. They are also not designed to combat tactical ballistic missiles (BRBM) (short-range ballistic missiles - from 100 to 1000 km) - such as the Iskander. According to representatives of the US Department of Defense, the task of the base in Redzikowo is to destroy medium-range ballistic missiles (with a range of 1000 to 5500 km) in space: in the middle and final stages of flight.
Some confusion in the Western press was caused by the similarity in the names of the SM-3 missiles and the PAC-3 missiles that Poland purchased for the Patriot SAM batteries under the Wisla program. However, the SM-3 Block IIA missile used in Redzikowo is something completely different. It has a different design, greater capabilities, interception ceiling, physical size and a much higher price. While the PAC-3 MSE costs $4 million, some estimates indicate that the SM-3Block IIA missile could cost more than $38 million. This would mean that in Redzikowo alone, the Americans would deploy 24 missiles worth almost a billion dollars to ensure European security.
Evolution of the SM-3 anti-missile
The RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) is a derivative of the discontinued RIM-156 design. The SM-2ER Block IV A is based on the Alliant Techsystems Mk 136 Advanced Solid Axial Starge (ASAS) third-stage rocket motor, a GPS/INS guidance section (also called GAINS, for GPS-assisted inertial navigation system), and a LEAP (Lightweight Exoatmospheric Augmented Projectile) kinetic energy warhead. The kinetic energy interceptor has its own thrusters for flight correction and a cooled matrix infrared seeker. Targets can be detected at ranges up to 300 km, and trajectory corrections can be as much as 3-5 km. The carrier ships will be upgraded with the Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI) computer software and hardware. The missile is based on warships equipped with the Aegis system in the standard universal launcher Mk-41 VLS. Search and tracking of targets in the upper atmosphere and in outer space is provided by the ship's AN/SPY-1 radar.
- RIM-161A (SM-3 Block I) – basic version of the missile (prototype).
- RIM-161B (SM-3 Block IA) – the first production version of the missile for the Aegis BMD 3.6.1 system, equipped with modified control equipment.
- RIM-161C (SM-3 Block IB) – a modified version of the missile for the Aegis BMD 4.0.1 system with a dual-band infrared seeker, increased target distribution capabilities and a new third-stage solid propellant rocket engine.
- RIM-161D (SM-3 Block II) – an improved version of the anti-missile, is a completely new missile with a caliber of 533 mm, a longer range and higher speed.
- SM-3 Block IIA – a version of the anti-missile with a new kinetic interceptor of increased size and new sensor equipment, with high capabilities for discrimination of false targets.
- SM-3 Block IIB – a version of the anti-missile with a new kinetic interceptor of increased size, new sensor equipment and limited capabilities for destroying ICBM warheads.
This price, more than $38 million per missile, should not be surprising at all. In fact, we are talking about a compact three-stage solid-fuel missile 6,55 meters long (all versions) with a solid-propellant rocket engine Mk 72 with a thrust of 35 kN and cruise engines Aerojet MK 104 (DTRM) with a thrust of 15 kN (second stage) and Aerojet Mk 136 with a thrust of 6 kN (third stage), carrying a LEAP (lightweight exoatmospheric projectile) warhead outside the atmosphere. This LEAP warhead, flying at a speed of more than Mach 12 (3600 m / s), does not carry an explosive charge, but a special combat module weighing 17 kg, destroying a target even at a distance of over 3000 km with a direct hit (hit-to-kill). Detection of the attacked object LEAP, in turn, is possible due to the dual-band infrared seeker and the communication system with the guidance center on Earth. The US Navy uses missiles in missile defense systems against short/medium-range ballistic missiles in the initial and cruise sections of their flight trajectory. The launch weight of the SM-3 Block 1B is more than 4000 pounds (1800 kg), retains the main elements, engines of all three stages of the airframe of the previous version Block 1A, but is equipped with an improved dual-band infrared homing head, an improved processor, a new thrust control and spatial orientation system (TDACS), which improve controllability and hit targets with a direct hit of a kinetic warhead, instead of a corrective radio command system, like the SM-2; the Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) network correction system is used. While the classic radio command correction system produces an error every 100 km – 100 yards (90 meters), the CEC system is range-independent and produces an error of one foot (500 cm) even at 30 km. The SM-3 Block 1B version is used both in the missile defense systems that are equipped with the US Navy's guided missile cruisers and guided missile destroyers, and in the land-based missile defense system at the Deveselu base in Romania.
Mythology
First of all, it should be clarified that the "official opening of the base" does not mean that the Redzikowo base begins its operational activities. This has already happened before, as this base reached its Basic Operating Capability (BOC) in September 2023. In turn, in December 2023, the Americans announced the commissioning of the entire Aegis Ashore complex in Redzikowo. According to unconfirmed reports, this was due, among other things, to the installation of 24 SM-3 Block IIA interceptor missiles in Mk41 launchers.
The operational responsibilities themselves were to begin in July 2024. This was confirmed by the conclusions of the July NATO summit in Washington, where it was announced that “operational readiness of the missile defense base in Redzikowo».
There is also a problem with determining who exactly controls the Aegis Ashore system. According to the head of the National Security Bureau, Jacek Sewiera,
"It is an American naval base, but it is subordinate to the NATO command - EUCOM, that is, the command of American forces in Europe."
This leads to some confusion because USEUCOM (United States European Command) is not a "NATO command" but the command of American forces in Europe. However, it is true that USEUCOM "works closely with NATO allies and partners", and the Commander of USEUCOM is the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
This defiance of NATO is a consequence of the previous policy that European missile defense would be provided solely by the Americans, with their Arleigh Burke-class destroyers deployed periodically to Rota in Spain and Aegis Ashore facilities in Turkey, Romania, and Poland. It was supposed to be an American system operating within the U.S. missile defense system, simultaneously protecting Europe and fulfilling the “transatlantic defense tasks"This was to be implemented within the framework of the European Phased Adaptive Approach idea defined during the administration of President Barack Obama.
However, later, information began to appear in statements from the US Navy that the Aegis Ashore system in Redzikowo would be “fully integrated and launched under NATO command» in July 2024. However, this was most likely just an empty statement, especially since under the Donald Trump administration, a European admiral will certainly not command American destroyers at the Spanish base in Rota, just as a European general will not command the missile launcher in Redzikowo.
"Besides the fact of subordination, it should be honestly said that Europe currently has nothing to defend itself against medium-range ballistic missiles with, other than what the Americans have offered it. Therefore, the Europeans should be satisfied with what has been built, regardless of whose command will be implemented. Without a doubt, the Americans will not give the reins into the hands of others. Only the creation of a European missile defense shield, proposed by Germany in October 2023, within the framework of the so-called European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), and its integration with what the Americans have previously built,"
— this is the disappointing conclusion reached by experts from defence24.pl.
But it is not only about the anti-missile shield. It is necessary to remember that the Mk41 VLS (Vertical Launch System) missile launchers are a very versatile solution, allowing the use of a very large number of missile types, and not only anti-aircraft and, moreover, not only American. It is enough to remember that the Polish frigates of the Miecznik guided missiles will be equipped with a similar Mk41 launch system as in Redzikowo (although not the same version), and from it the British CAMM missiles will be launched.
In the case of US destroyers and cruisers, this missile system has much greater strike capabilities. SM-41 and SM-2 anti-aircraft missiles, LRASM anti-ship missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and VL-ASROC missile-torpedoes can be launched from Mk6 launch containers. Also, each individual cell can be loaded with Mk 25 launch containers (Quad-Pack launch container), which can accommodate a package of four Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) short-range anti-aircraft missiles.
However, these capabilities are not officially used at the Redzikowo base, so talking about the ability to shoot down cruise missiles or aircraft from there is somewhat of an exaggeration. The SM-3 missiles are not used to combat standard air attack weapons. In addition, there are too few of them. The Aegis Ashore complexes in Romania and Poland have only three Mk41 vertical launch modules installed on the ground, which allows for the launch of “only” 24 anti-missiles from these two bases.
By comparison, each Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has 96 of these launchers, giving it three times the missile firepower of a land-based Aegis Ashore (in terms of the number of missiles it can launch, not the type). But that could change very quickly.
The Redzikowo base has space to accommodate additional Mk41 vertical launch modules in the ground, which will be able to load other missiles, not just SM-3. This will add not only the ability to independently defend the facility, but also the ability to attack ground targets, for example, with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Theoretically, it would even be possible to supplement the anti-aircraft missiles tested at the Redzikowo base with CAMM missiles, which will be equipped on the Polish Mechnik frigates.
This would require a general change in the narrative regarding the missions assigned to the European Aegis Ashore installations, which were supposedly initially (at least officially) not to be aimed at Russian missiles, but at those launched, for example, from Iran or North Korea. This was confirmed by an official statement from the US Navy on December 18, 2023:
"The acceptance of the Aegis Ashore base in Poland, as well as its sister base in Romania, is an important step in our efforts to prepare for defense against the growing ballistic missile threat from Iran."
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