More US Weapons to Turkey

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Turkey did not hide its delight regarding US President Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria. Now Turkey is also about to receive more American weapons, as one of the US “key allies”. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has recently notified Congress of a potential foreign military sale of Patriot missile system and related support and equipment to Turkey.

In a statement, DSCA said: “This sale is consistent with US initiatives to provide key allies with modern systems capable of being networked to defend against regional instability. The proposed sale will enhance Turkey’s interoperability with the US and Nato, making it a more valuable partner in an increasingly important area of the world.”

The system will be deployed by Turkey to defend its territorial integrity, deter regional threats, safeguard against hostile aggression and shield Nato allies.

DSCA added: “The TPY-2 radar site that Turkey hosts is important to the European Phased Adaptive Approach and to efforts to protect allies and partners against growing Iranian ballistic missile threats.”

Under the estimated $3.5bn sale, Turkey has requested 80 Patriot MIM-104E guidance enhanced missiles (GEM-T) with canisters, 60 PAC-3 missile segment enhancement (MSE) missiles, and five electrical power plants (EPP) III, according to army-technology.com.

Approved by the US State Department, the package will also include four AN/MPQ-65 radar sets, four engagement control stations, ten antenna mast groups (AMGs), and 20 M903 launching stations.

Raytheon and Lockheed Martin will serve as the prime contractors for the possible sale.