April 12 (SeeNews) - The US will temporarily deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system to Deveselu in Romania, as the Aegis Ashore Ballistic Missile Defence site in the country will undergo a long-planned update this summer, NATO said.
The THAAD unit will be under NATO operational control and the full political control of the North Atlantic Council and it will only remain operational until the Aegis Ashore Romania site is back online, NATO said in a statement on Thursday.
The update and deployment are expected to last several weeks.
In accordance with NATO's ballistic missile defence system, the THAAD unit will be focused on potential threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. A
The update, which has been taking place across the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence system fleet, will not provide any offensive capability to the Aegis Ashore missile defence system.
Romania has been hosting the Aegis Ashore base at Deveselu, in the country's southwestern region since May 2016.
In July, Romania's president Klaus Iohannis said that NATO has agreed to build a three-star command centre in Romania and to upgrade a base in the southern part of the country.
Romania, which joined NATO in 2004, plans to spend 9.8 billion euro ($11.05 billion) until 2026 to boost its defence capabilities.
($=0.8867 euro)
The THAAD unit will be under NATO operational control and the full political control of the North Atlantic Council. It will only remain operational until the Aegis Ashore Romania site is back online. The update and deployment are expected to last several weeks.
In accordance with NATO's Ballistic Missile Defence system, the THAAD unit will be focused on potential threats from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. Aegis Ashore Romania is purely a defensive system, NATO stressed.