The base has been in development since the early 2000s. Credit: U.S. Navy Lt. Amy Forsythe, Public Affairs Officer, Naval Support Facility Redzikowo/(Creative Commons).

Poland has inaugurated its first permanent US military installation in the town of Redzikowo, located near the Baltic coast, according to a post on the Poland Ministry of Defence’s X account.  

This Aegis Ashore missile defence base on Polish soil has been in development since the early 2000s and is part of Nato’s broader missile defence strategy.

It comprises an AN/SPY-1 radar, Mk 41 VLS launcher, and Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) antiballistic missiles. 

Poland signed an agreement in 2008 regarding the installation of missile defence elements in the country. Work on the base started in 2016. 

The Redzikowo base was initiated by former president George Bush but commenced under the administration of Barack Obama and was continued by Donald Trump and ultimately completed under the presidency of Joe Biden.  

The US base is designed to intercept short- to intermediate-range ballistic missiles as part of the overarching Aegis Ashore system.

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This installation aims to enhance the collective defence capabilities of Nato member states, particularly in Eastern Europe. 

Poland deputy prime minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said: “I would like to thank everyone who contributed to building this base. For many years, this process was long, but so effective in its finale. (…) Today we are opening something that is a great guarantee of security. (…) Poland is even more secure from today. Nato is even stronger. Freedom, democracy, justice. Our values ​​will always win.” 

In response to the base’s opening, Russia’s Kremlin has labelled it a move aimed at containing the country, as US military infrastructure is now positioned closer to Russian borders.  

Moscow raised concerns about the base as early as 2007, when it was still in the planning stages.  

Despite these concerns, Nato maintains that the missile shield is purely defensive and not intended to provoke or escalate tensions with Russia.