WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th March, 2022) The United States is on schedule to begin testing Poland's Aegis Ashore combat system in April, US Missile Defense Agency Director Vice Adm. Jon Hill said.
"We in close coordination with the Army Corps have gotten to the point where we've got a very predictable schedule now. So we've got the arrays in place, all of the Aegis equipment for the war-fighting capability to ashore now installed, it's all in place, and we start our testing campaign on the combat system coming up this next month," Hill said during a press conference on Monday.
Hill explained that the SM-3 Block 2A ballistic missile interceptor that Poland's Aegis Ashore will be equipped with is not designed to target strategic capabilities from Russia.
The US Defense Department previously said it expects the Aegis Ashore missile defense system it has provided for Poland will be completed and operational by the end of 2022.
In 2018, Poland signed an agreement with the United States worth nearly $5 billion for air and missile defense systems to defend against missile threats from Iran, according to the Defense Department.
