United States missile defense complex in Poland
[10] In October 2009—during a trip by Vice President Joe Biden to Warsaw—a new, smaller interceptor project to go forward on roughly the same schedule as the Bush administration plan, was proposed; and it was welcomed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
[11] Naval Support Facility-Redzikowo was to be declared operational on Friday, 15 December 2023, according to the Prime Minister of Poland, Donald Tusk.
According to U.S. officials, a site similar to the American base in Alaska would help protect the US and Europe from missiles fired from the Middle East or North Africa.
[12] In February 2007, the United States started formal negotiations with Poland and the Czech Republic concerning construction of missile shield installations in those countries for a Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System.
[20] In July 2008, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that if the missile defense system was approved, "we will be forced to react not with diplomatic, but with military-technical methods.
"[23] A high-ranking Russian military officer warned Poland that it was exposing itself to attack by accepting a U.S. missile interceptor base on its soil.
The deputy chief of staff of Russia's armed forces Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn warned that, "by deploying (the system), it is exposing itself to a strike—100 percent".
"His [Obama's] position is as it was throughout the campaign, that he supports deploying a missile defence system when the technology is proved to be workable," the aide said, but "no commitment" has been made.
[28] On November 14, French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated that plans for a U.S. missile shield in Central Europe were misguided, and wouldn't make the continent a safer place.
"Deployment of a missile defense system would bring nothing to security ... it would complicate things, and would make them move backward," he said at a summit.
[29] On April 5, 2009, President Obama, during a speech in Prague, declared: "As long as the threat from Iran persists, we will go forward with a missile defense system that is cost-effective and proven.
"[30] President Obama continued to express conditional support for the program and sought to isolate it from U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control talks.
According to President Obama, new intelligence had shown Iran was pursuing short-range and medium-range missile development, rather than long-range, necessitating a shift in strategy.
[35] The (leaked) responses from the Pentagon show that Alexander Vershbow sought to assure that the missile shield, including the SM-3 alternative, was adaptable to "hypothetical" threats.
Jarosław Gowin, a member of Poland's governing Civic Platform party, said Obama's decision had been made independently of Polish sensitivities.
[33][40] Jarosław Kaczyński, the leader of the main Polish opposition party, claimed that the decision of abandoning the shield being announced on September 17 was not an accident.
[47] The Associated Press reported, "The move has raised fears in the two nations they are being marginalized by Washington even as a resurgent Russia leaves them longing for added American protection.
Conversely, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the decision was "brilliant" and was clearly based on an accurate summary of the current threats.
"[53] The reformulated project announced most prominently by Vice President Biden in October, 2009, would entail smaller, mobile SM-3 interceptors, to be placed by 2018.
"[11][54] Phase 4 was cancelled in March 2013, triggering some speculation that it was a concession promised by Obama to President Medvedev before the 2012 United States presidential election.
[58] However, in August 2022, Vice Admiral Jon A. Hill, director for the Missile Defense Agency, announced that the site is nearing completion and will be ready in 2023.
