The Defense Ministry said on March 18 that NATO was deploying a second Patriot missile battery at İncirlik air base in southern Türkiye, just days after a third ballistic missile from Iran was shot down.
The system will be deployed “alongside the existing Spanish Patriot system already stationed” at the base, local media cited a Defense Ministry spokesperson as saying.
Since March 4, NATO air-defense systems in the eastern Mediterranean have intercepted three missiles launched from Iran toward Türkiye, according to the ministry. The latest interception occurred on March 13 over İncirlik.
The air base has previously been used by the United States for operations against ISIL and to enforce a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.
The latest deployment, coordinated by NATO Allied Air Command in Germany's Ramstein, may include an advanced PAC-3 battery, the Bloomberg reported.
Separately, NATO deployed another PAC-3 battery last week to the eastern province of Malatya to protect an early-warning radar system used by the alliance to monitor missile activity across the Middle East.
Debris from the interceptor used to neutralize the missile fired on March 4 fell near the Ceyhan oil terminal, highlighting potential risks to critical energy infrastructure amid tensions.
İncirlik air base hosts personnel from the United States, Qatar, Spain and Poland, alongside Turkish forces.
Despite advances in its domestic defense industry, Türkiye does not yet have a fully developed long-range air defense system and has relied on NATO assets in the region to counter the recent missile threats.
