The U.S. Army will withdraw two Patriot air defense missile batteries and their approximately 300 support personnel from Turkey in October, according to a joint announcement by the U.S. embassy in Ankara and the Turkish government.
The joint statement said that, "the Patriot missiles will be redeployed to the United States for critical modernization upgrades" and noted that "the U.S. and NATO commitment to the defense of its allies—including Turkey—are steadfast."
The missile batteries—each battery can be comprised of 16 launchers—were deployed on the Turkey-Syria border in 2013 to defend against possible Syrian missile attacks.
A defense official said deployment of Patriots was mainly a political gesture of support for the Turkish government. However, as Syria’s military is believed to have expended most or all its Scud missiles, Pentagon leaders said the anti-missile systems could be withdrawn without affecting regional security.
Only one Syrian Scud missile landed near the Turkish border during the Patriot deployment, the official said.
Germany sent Turkey Patriot missile batteries in the same year in conjunction with the U.S. deployment. The German government also announced that it will withdraw the missiles this fall.
The Patriot missile defense system, supported by ground-based radar, is effective against small, fast flying missiles as well as Scud missiles, a mainstay weapon deployed widely in the Middle East and Asia.
During two years of deployment in Turkey, the Patriots were never fired and served primarily in the eyes of some Pentagon officials as nothing more than a symbolic sign of U.S. support to the Turkish government, which was shocked by the June 2012 downing of a Turkish jet by Syrian forces.
Turkish concerns were further exacerbated by Syria’s use of missiles in 2012 against insurgents operating near the Turkish border.
After scheduled modernization upgrades and personnel rest in the United States, the batteries can be redeployed to other missions.
Reports indicate that the United States withheld the announcement until it had secured Turkish consent to send six F-16 fighter aircraft to Turkey as part of a plan to establish a "safe zone" about 60 miles along the Turkish border in Aleppo Province, in order to avoid a possible Turkish perception of a weakening U.S. commitment to the country’s defense against the Assad regime.