Poland to build joint missile defence system with Germany and France

Polish officials announced today that they are seriously considering a proposal for the construction of a joint missile defence system, with the armed forces of Germany and France.

Tomasz Siemoniak, the Polish Minister of National Defence was quoted by the local news agency Polska Agencja Prasowa as saying that his nation is taking the initiative for the implementation of the proposal. He claimed that NATO is also supporting the proposal, and that the joint defence system is expected to cost about $3 billion to construct.

Earlier this month, the Polish president Bronislaw Komorowski had announced that Poland may construct its own missile defence shield, in addition to the NATO’s proposed European missile defence shield. The Unites States has earlier said that it plans to activate the components of the European shield by 2018.

Unites States was forced to axe its plans for anti-ballistic defence systems in Czech Republic and Poland two years ago, after Russia threatened it with counter-measures. Russia had threatened to deploy its Iskander (SS-26 Stone) ballistic missiles in the enclave of Kaliningrad, close to the international borders with NATO member nations Lithuania and Poland. After US announced a postponement of their plans, Russia also dropped the move to transfer the missiles to its Baltic enclave.

In 2011, the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced renewed plans for the deployment of the missile-defence components in Poland, which once again angered Russia. Although Poland shares border only with the Kaliningrad, and not the mainland Russia, the latter has said that the move is a direct aggression towards its defence forces.

The NATO members have repeatedly claimed that their missile defence systems are targeted against rogue states like Iran, although Russia claims that the primary aim of NATO is to neutralize its ballistic missiles. Countering the claim, the NATO authorities have pointed out that the Russian missiles are technologically very advanced, and it is not possible with the current technology available with them to either intercept or destroy the missiles.