The U.S. Department of Defense and partner agencies plan to install an Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Poland in 2018.

The U.S. Army awarded AMEC Programs a $182.7 million contract with options to support the Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Poland.

For the contract, AMEC Programs received funds covering Fiscal 2015 and 2016 military construction in addition to research, development, testing, evaluation and procurement.

The construction of the Aegis Ashore system is part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach Phase III, which aims to boost land-based missile defense capabilities for NATO allies against long-range ballistic attacks.

The EPAA program is divided into four phases. Phase I began in 2011, and focused on short and medium-ranged ballistic missile threats. Phase II began in 2015, and saw the development of a missile defense interceptor site in Romania.

Under Phase III, an Aegis Ashore is scheduled to be installed in Poland to support the defense of northern Europe.