Skip to main content

United States to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey and 400 troops to operate them 1512121.


| 2012
a
 

Defence News - United States

 
 
Saturday, December 15, 2012, 09:53 AM
 
United States to send two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey and 400 troops to operate them.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has signed an order to deploy two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey along with 400 troops to operate them, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Friday, December 14, 2012. Germany and the Netherlands have each offered to deploy two Patriot batteries to Turkey.
     
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has signed an order to deploy two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey along with 400 troops to operate them, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Friday, December 14, 2012. Germany and the Netherlands have each offered to deploy two Patriot batteries to Turkey.
United States Army Patriot air defence missile system launch vehicle
     

Pentagon press secretary George Little told reporters the U.S. troops operating the Patriots will be tasked with a defensive mission only. The Patriot surface-to-air missiles could technically be used to enforce a no-fly zone over northern Syria, but NATO officials have stressed that they are not gearing up for such a move, which would mark a sharp escalation in the West’s involvement in Syria’s conflict.

"The purpose of this deployment is to signal very strongly that the United States, working closely with our NATO allies, is going to support the defense of Turkey, especially with potential threats emanating from Syria," said Little.

Little said the troops would be deployed in the coming weeks once the two Patriot missile batteries are in place but declined to reveal the location.

Panetta issued the order en route to Turkey from Afghanistan, according to the Pentagon.

Panetta told reporters during the trip that the United States and Turkey "share common concerns about the violence in Syria and the threat that it poses to regional stability."

 
Copyright © 2019 - 2024 Army Recognition | Webdesign by Zzam