In December, official Kyiv requested THAAD missile defense systems from the United States. Many people thought this request was inappropriate. In addition to the United States, THAAD operators are the UAE and Saudi Arabia. This fact is explained by their high cost. Meanwhile, few people know that the Pentagon has a much more powerful missile defense system.
We are talking about Aegis Ashore, which is being deployed in Poland. One battery of this system costs about 3 billion USD. Apart from the United States, only Saudi Arabia has Aegis Ashore.
The Aegis Ashore missile defense system is stationary. It uses SM-3 missiles to intercept air targets. It is noteworthy that elements of the US destroyer Arleigh Burke were used in the missile defense system. These are SPY-1 radar, Aegis fire control system and Mark 41 launchers.
With a body length of 6.55 meters, the SM-3 missile has a weight of 1.5 tons. It has a three-stage design. The Block I A/B missile is capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 1,200 km. The effective ceiling of SM-3 is limited to 500 km. According to various sources, the cost of one interceptor missile varies between 11-25 million USD.
According to The Drive, the operational readiness of the missile defense battery in Poland will be achieved in the first half of next year. The facility will be under the control of the US military. It is worth noting that the deployment of Aegis Ashore began in 2009, when the world was facing a completely different geopolitical situation. At the time, it was believed that the missile threat to Europe came exclusively from Iran.
