DISINFO: Aegis Ashore missile defense system and MK-41 in Romania are an immediate threat to Russia
SUMMARY
With the new (Defence) strategy, Romania will start acting like the Baltic States and Poland, which also shout about the Russian threat. Romania participates in anti-Russian NATO exercises and places American weapons on its territory. The US military base is operating in the country, where the Aegis Ashore missile defense system and launchers system MK-41 are installed. They can be used to launch Tomahawk cruise missiles. This is an immediate threat to Russia.
RESPONSE
The Aegis Ashore Missile Defence System is part of the European Phased Adapted Approach, designed to protect European NATO allies, and the U.S. deployed forces in the region, against current and emerging ballistic threats from the Middle East. U.S. Naval Forces ruled out the possibility of targeting the Russian Federation with the Aegis Ashore system. In August 2019 the Aegis Ashore ballistic missile defence system in Romania completed scheduled update. This update did not provide any offensive capability to the Aegis Ashore missile defence system. The MK-41 launcher used at the Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defence system deployed in Romania is only capable of launching defensive interceptor missiles. Russians have long claimed that the MK-41 VLS system allows Aegis Ashore to also launch ground-based cruise missiles. The accusation has been categorically rejected by Washington and NATO, which say the system does not have the software or the hardware needed to launch offensive ballistic or cruise missiles such as the Tomahawk, and its role is only to intercept missiles. The Romanian Defence Minister Teodor Melescanu also reiterated in February 2019 that "Aegis Ashore" was a strictly defensive system. See similar cases claiming that US deploys missiles prohibited by INF treaty in Poland and Romania or that US missile defence-bases in Romania and Poland are purposefully targeting Russia.