WASHINGTON, July 11. /TASS/. The United States’ Aegis Ashore missile defense site in Poland is already operational, NATO said in a press statement.

"A new U.S. ballistic missile defense site in Redzikowo, Poland is now operational and available for the defense of the Alliance. Dubbed "Aegis Ashore", the site is part of a larger NATO missile shield and is designed to detect, track and intercept ballistic missiles in flight," it said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg described the completion of the site’s construction as "an important step for transatlantic security and NATO’s ability to defend against the growing threat of ballistic missiles."

Aegis Ashore site in Redzikowo is part of the program for the deployment of the components of the air defense system in Europe, European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA), meant to fence off missile threats from Iran. The system also incorporates ships equipped with Aegis radars, which are based in the Spanish city of Rota, an AN/TPY-1 radar station in Turkey (on combat duty since 2011), and an Aegis Ashore site in Romania’s Deveselu. The construction of the site in Redzikowo began in 2016. According to open sources, the United States spent $859 million on it. Originally, it was planned to commission the site in 2018 but the commissioning was delayed.