On Wednesday, NATO announced that two Dutch and two German batteries of Patriot missiles had been deployed in Turkey and are now “actively defending” the southern Turkish cities of Adana and Kharamanmaras. These are four of the six batteries of the anti-aircraft, and anti-missile, missiles that NATO promised Turkey to “augment Turkey’s air defenses.” The remaining two are due to arrive from the United States.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has repeatedly stressed that these batteries are for defensive purposes only.
NATO says its Patriot missiles are capable of defending an area with 3.5 million people.
The Patriot missiles are the latest weapons to enter into the theater of Syria’s war, which, while not quite spilling over yet, has definitely done some sloshing over the edges into Turkey and Lebanon and has recently seen the involvement of Israel. Here’s a roundup of some of the weapons, homemade and otherwise, being used in the two-year civil war in the region.
Facing continued Russian hostility toward Eastern Europe, Poland has chosen the U.S.-built Patriot missile defense system. Pictured: German armed forces stand next to Patriot equipment at a Turkish military base in Kahramanmaras during media day Thursday.Reuters/Murad SezerAn Israeli F-16 fighter jet appears in flight.Reuters/Amir CohenA Free Syrian Army fighter uses a shotgun to fire a homemade grenade at Syrian Army soldiers during a fight in the Arabeen neighbourhood of Damascus Jan. 24. Reuters/Goran TomasevicA homemade military vehicle called Sham 1 is seen in Khan al-Assal area November 10, 2012.Reuters/Zain KaramA Free Syrian Army fighter makes homemade missiles at a workshop in north Aleppo December 29, 2012. Syria faces "hell" if no deal is struck to end 21 months of bloodshed, an international mediator said on Saturday, but his talks in Russia brought no sign of a breakthrough after a week of intense diplomacy.Reuters/Ahmed JadallahFree Syrian Army fighters stand next to a homemade rocket launcher in Sermeen near Idlib Oct. 17, 2012.Reuters/Shaam News NetworkMembers of the free Syrian Army use a catapult to launch a homemade bomb during clashes with pro-government soldiers in the city of Aleppo, October, 15, 2012.Reuters/Asmaa Waguih
