Overview
- Turkey’s Defence Ministry announced the deployment on Wednesday, saying the U.S. Patriot system was commissioned by NATO’s Allied Air Command in Ramstein.
- The new battery will join an existing Spanish Patriot unit at Incirlik Air Base in the southern province of Adana.
- The latest step follows NATO’s recent placement of another Patriot battery in Malatya near the Kurecik early-warning radar site.
- Ankara says allied defenses intercepted three ballistic missiles targeting Turkey on March 4, March 9 and last week, while Iran denies responsibility and has suggested sabotage by Israel.
- Incirlik hosts U.S., Qatari, Spanish and Polish personnel alongside Turkish troops, and Ankara has not formally requested collective defense from NATO.