The Aegis Ashore system in Redzikowo, Poland and its potential

Radar tower and control room of the Aegis Ashore system in Redzikowo
Last year, the United States and Poland completed one of their largest joint projects. They brought the new Aegis Ashore missile defense system, located at the Redzikowo air base, to full operation and combat duty. Together with a similar facility in Romania, this system is supposed to monitor the activities of Russian missile strategic forces and, upon receipt of appropriate orders, intercept incoming missiles.
Polish long-term construction
The United States has long been interested in Eastern European countries as a location for the deployment of new missile defense systems. The first consultations on this topic took place in the early 2000s, and these processes continued. At that time, the need to deploy missile defense was explained by the prospects of Iran's missile construction and the risks associated with it.
In 2007, the United States and Poland began official negotiations on the construction of a missile defense system on the territory of the latter. In August 2008, they signed the first agreement on this topic. At that time, it was planned to build a radar station and launch sites for GBI interceptors in Poland. The new facilities were to be commissioned in the first half of the XNUMXs.
However, this project did not receive further development. Already in 2009, the American authorities proposed a new plan for the construction of a “European” missile defense system based on other types of equipment and weapons. In July 2010, Washington and Warsaw adjusted the existing agreement in accordance with the new plan.

The object is under construction
According to the terms of the second document, a new US military facility was to appear at the Polish Redzikowo airfield. In 2015, the necessary preparations began there, and in May 2016, construction of new structures and systems began. According to the approved schedule, the Aegis Ashore system was to be operational in just two years – in the spring of 2018.
However, the construction has encountered various problems, and the completion date has been constantly postponed. In 2018, a two-year delay was announced, and in 2020, the work was affected by the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the construction was only completed in the spring of 2023, i.e. five years behind the original schedule.
The system is operational
After the completion of construction and installation work, the start-up and commissioning process began, which took several months. In September 2023, it became known that the new missile defense facility had reached the stage of initial operational readiness. At this stage, it could be used to solve real problems, but with a number of important limitations.
In December of that year, another important event took place. The Missile Defense Agency was responsible for the construction of the Aegis Ashore system, and was also its first actual operator. In late 2023, the agency handed over the facility to the Navy, which effectively meant the system was accepted into service.

One of the launchers
The Navy specialists continued their work on the site, and in July 2024, full operational readiness was achieved. Finally, in mid-November, a ceremonial commissioning of the missile defense system took place. Since then, the Aegis Ashore system in Redzikowo has been in service both de facto and officially.
Ground system
Aegis Ashore is a land-based missile defense system built on the basis of available units. In essence, it is a ship-based electronics and weapons system, transferred to land-based structures and slightly modified.
In the case of Aegis Ashore, the carrier of the special electronics and weapons is not a surface ship, but several land structures. The main building houses the command post, the necessary electronics and the radar. The phased array antennas of the radar are mounted on a tower in the shape of the ship's superstructure. There are also several smaller separate structures with launchers of the Mk 41 missiles.
The Aegis Ashore ground system, like the ship-based one, is equipped with an AN/SPY-1 locator and an Aegis combat information and control system. Unlike the ship-based one, the ground radar has only two phased arrays. Depending on various conditions, the station is capable of detecting ballistic targets at distances of hundreds of kilometers. After detecting a target, the automation calculates data for using an interceptor missile.
Ballistic targets are intercepted using SM-3 guided missiles. This is a solid-fuel missile with a length of 6,5 m and a mass of about 1,5 tons. In flight, it develops a speed of more than 6-8 M and shows an interception range of at least 1200 km (for early modifications). On the trajectory, the missile is controlled using satellite and inertial navigation, and final targeting is carried out by an infrared homing head. A kinetic warhead of the LEAP type is used to hit the target.

General architecture of the Aegis Ashore system
Real Opportunities
The table characteristics and declared capabilities of the Redzikowo missile defense system are well known and of interest. In addition, other factors known from open sources are of great importance. All this information allows us to imagine what the American system is built for and what it can do.
The AN/SPY-1 radar has two phased arrays facing northeast and southeast. One array monitors Scandinavia and northern Russia, all the way to the Kola Peninsula. The second array is capable of detecting targets over European Russia, including the Moscow area and other major cities.
Interceptor missiles can be used in a significant part of the controlled area. SM-3 products have high characteristics and are capable of intercepting ballistic targets in Eastern Europe and over some Russian regions. It is expected that in the future, ground-based missile defense systems will switch to the latest modification of SM-3 missiles with improved technical characteristics.
According to official data, the Aegis Ashore missile defense system is designed to combat ballistic missiles of various classes, including medium-range systems. As a result of modernization and the introduction of new missile defense systems, they want to be able to work against intercontinental missiles as well.

Principles of Aegis Ashore
It was previously reported that the American missile defense system in Europe is being built to protect local states from a hypothetical Iranian missile attack. However, the placement of the facilities, the direction of the radars, and other facts indicate secret plans to use Aegis Ashore against Russian missiles. It is curious that NATO leadership officially announced such plans for the first time only last year.
In the event of a full-scale conflict, the two Eastern European Aegis Ashore systems would be required to detect and engage ballistic targets at their full expected range. However, the effectiveness of such combat work remains questionable. The American missile defense system has not yet encountered Russian weapons and has not had the opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities in real conditions.
It should be noted that the American missile defense system in Europe is not limited to the Redzikowo facility. A similar complex is located at the Romanian Deveselu air base. In addition, unified electronics and missiles are carried by combat ships fleet US Navy. Several of them are permanently stationed off the coast of Europe and are ready to participate in the missile defense.
The missile defense system at the Redzikowo base is opposed by several Russian formations. These are divisions and regiments of the Strategic Missile Forces deployed in the Ivanovo, Kaluga, Tver regions, as well as in the Mari El Republic. At the same time, the European Aegis Ashore systems cannot affect the service and combat operations of the formations and units deployed in the Urals and Siberia.
Defense contours
Since the early 2000s, the United States has sought to build a separate missile defense system in Europe. It was claimed that it would protect European countries from the Iranian threat, but even then the true goals of the program were clear. Washington wanted to obtain a tool to reduce Russia's nuclear missile potential and to reduce the scale of a hypothetical counter-attack.

Launch of SM-3 missile from a carrier ship
The implementation of these plans took quite a long time. During the 2000s, the United States negotiated with Eastern European partners, and spent the next decade building facilities and deploying the necessary systems. At the same time, construction on Polish territory encountered serious difficulties and fell behind schedule. However, it was completed, albeit several years after the expected date.
At the moment, the European contours of the American missile defense system are fully formed and operational, and are on combat duty. Accordingly, they pose a certain danger to Russian strategic nuclear forces.
Russian military and political leadership, even at the preparation and construction stage, warned the US and its allies of possible consequences. The main one was that new facilities in Eastern Europe would become a priority target for strikes during a period of threat or during an open conflict.
The US and its allies ignored these warnings and continued their work. In response, Russia fulfilled its promises and added the missile defense systems to the list of targets for destruction. How exactly these objects will be destroyed if necessary is not specified. However, to solve such problems, the Russian army has a number of different systems and complexes, including those recently demonstrated.
It is obvious that the US will continue to ignore Russian warnings. They have already built the necessary facilities and put them into operation. However, such a position is now associated with the threat of destroying important and valuable elements of defense. How Washington will behave in this situation, time will tell.
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