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These are the missile defense systems the US sent to Poland

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3 years ago

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The deployment, introduced Thursday by Vice President Kamala Harris, is meant to discourage Russia and enhance Poland’s safety amid western issues that the Ukraine battle might spill into NATO-aligned nations.
The Patriot air protection missile system — Patriot stands for “Phased Array Monitoring Radar to Intercept of Goal” — is designed to counter and destroy incoming short-range ballistic missiles, superior plane and cruise missiles.

The battery contains missiles and launching stations, a radar set that detects and tracks targets, and an engagement management station, in line with the Missile Protection Advocacy Alliance.

The US, looking for to keep away from direct involvement in Ukraine — which isn’t a member of NATO and due to this fact not topic to the pact’s collective protection settlement, wherein an assault on one aligned nation is taken into account an assault on all — has repeatedly confused that the deployment is just for defensive functions.

“This defensive deployment is being performed proactively to counter any potential risk to U.S. and Allied forces and NATO territory,” Capt. Adam Miller, spokesman for US European Command, stated in an announcement Tuesday. “It is a prudent drive safety measure that underpins our dedication to Article 5 and can by no means help any offensive operations.”

The Pentagon’s deployment of the Patriot missiles to Poland “wasn’t precipitated by one single second or one single subject or one single act by the Russians,” US Protection Division press secretary John Kirby stated on Wednesday.

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The Patriot missiles had been moved from Germany for what Kirby described as a “short-term deployment.”

Retired US Military Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO commander, referred to as the deployment of the 2 batteries “prudent” and stated the Patriot system would have the ability to intercept lots of the missiles Russian President Vladimir Putin has deployed in Russia and Belarus, which borders Poland.

“So if there have been to be a launch in some provocative approach by Mr. Putin to aim to intimidate us, these missiles have an excellent chance of intercepting a Russian missile,” Clark, now a CNN navy analyst, informed CNN’s Brianna Keilar.

He added that the deployment of the tools “offers reassurance to the Poles. It additionally tells Putin that he is not going to be essentially so profitable in attempting to blackmail us with nuclear weapons.”

A longtime mainstay of US navy operations

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The Patriot missile system has undergone a number of enhancements and upgrades because it was first deployed in 1982. Its first fight use was within the Gulf Battle, which was additionally the primary time that an air protection system had destroyed a hostile tactical ballistic missile. The Patriot system was additionally deployed in 2003 throughout Operation Iraqi Freedom and was profitable in hitting 9 incoming missiles, but in addition have been concerned in a number of pleasant fireplace incidents.
Lately, the US has despatched Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia and Iraq to counter threats posed by Iran and its proxies and to the Pacific area to discourage North Korea.
Earlier this 12 months, the US navy, together with the United Arab Emirates, used the Patriot missiles to intercept assaults by Houthi militants on a navy airbase the place Individuals have been stationed and whereas the Israeli President was visiting the UAE.
A 2019 Pentagon missile protection evaluate reported that eight battalions with 33 batteries have been stationed in the USA whereas seven battalions with 27 batteries have been stationed abroad. Greater than a dozen US allies, together with Germany, Japan, and Israel, have additionally bought the US missile protection system.
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