ANKARA, March 18 (Reuters) – NATO is deploying one other U.S. Patriot missile defence system to the southern Turkish province of Adana, the place personnel from the USA and different international locations are positioned within the Incirlik Air Base, Turkey’s Defence Ministry mentioned on Wednesday.
Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest military and neigbhbours Iran, mentioned final week the alliance had deployed a Patriot system to its southeastern Malatya province, close to a NATO radar base, as a part of steps to spice up air defences in opposition to missile threats from the Iran battle.
Adana hosts Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base, the place personnel from the USA, Qatar, Spain, and Poland are positioned, in addition to Turkish troops.
“Along with national-level measures taken to make sure the safety of our airspace and our residents, one other Patriot system, commissioned by Allied Air Command in Ramstein/Germany, is being deployed in Adana, along with the present Spanish Patriot system stationed there,” the ministry mentioned at a weekly briefing.
Turkey, an rising chief within the international defence trade, lacks its personal totally fledged air defences regardless of improvement efforts, and has relied on NATO air defences stationed within the japanese Mediterranean Sea to intercept three missiles it says had been fired from Iran for the reason that battle started.
(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Enhancing by Jonathan Spicer)
