Türkiye announces NATO SAMP/T deployment

A Patriot launcher is seen during a visit to İncirlik airbase by the US and Turkish ambassadors to NATO on 18 May 2026. (39th Air Base Wing)

An Italian SAMP/T air defence system will be deployed to the 3rd Main Jet Base Command in Konya under NATO auspices, the Turkish Ministry of National Defence (MSB) announced in a statement to local journalists on 15 June.

This is the first time that a SAMP/T has been deployed to Türkiye as part of the NATO mission, which currently has at least three Patriots system in the country. A Spanish Patriot has been deployed at the 10th Tanker Base Command (İncirlik airbase) in Adana since 2015, originally to defend against Syrian ballistic missile attacks.

While the Dutch, German, and US Patriots that were also deployed as part of that mission were subsequently withdrawn, the Iran conflict that the United States and Israel began on 28 February has promoted two to return.

The MSB announced on 10 March that a Patriot had been deployed to Malatya, where the 7th Main Jet Base Command is located. NATO has an early warning radar station about 27 km southwest of the airbase in Kürecik. The MSB's spokesman subsequently said the Patriot was assigned to NATO's Allied Air Command based in Ramstein, Germany.

The deployment was prompted by the interception of two Iranian ballistic missiles that entered Turkish airspace on 4 and 9 March. The MSB credited the interceptions to “NATO air and missile defence elements deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean,” an apparent reference to one or more US Navy destroyers with a ballistic missile defence capability.