A view of NATO’s Patriot missile defense around southern Turkey.
Digital Globe imagery from 12 February 2013 shows one of the partiot PAC-3 batteries currently under NATO control in the Turkish border city of Gaziantep.
NATO’s decision at the end of 2012 saw 6 battalions of PAC-3 Patriots deploy to Turkey. Of those deployed, the two Battalions at Gaziantep are viewable on Google Earth.
According to handhelds and satellite imagery, each battalion appears to be deploying up to six transporter erector launchers capable of carrying up to 16 PAC-3 missiles. The Gaziantep deployment (left), shows the associated radar equipment, the AN/MPQ-65, and what appears to be the OE-349 Antenna Mast Group vehicle.
The two Gaziantep positions are located less than a mile from each other. At the time of imagery only four launchers were observed in the second battalion, though the second battalion’s revetments were not yet complete.
The deployment location in Gaziantep is a Turkish army base thought to be subordinate to Turkey’s Third Army, headquartered in Malatya.
Out of the two US Patriot Battalions deployed to the north of Gaziantep, one is the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery unit from Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Bottom Line
Nato’s Patriots in Turkey and recent US deployments in Jordan may yet have a role to play before the Syrian civil war is over as the US appears to be on the verge of launching a strike against the Assad regime.
Great spotting!
The site of a Bundeswehr Battery is here 37.602205° 36.925988°
http://www.einsatz.bundeswehr.de/resource/resource/MzEzNTM4MmUzMzMyMmUzMTM1MzMyZTM2MzIzMDMwMzAzMDMwMzAzMDY4Njg3MjYxNmY2YzYyNjYyMDIwMjAyMDIw/image_popup.jpg
And there is a DigitalGlobe picture of a Dutch Battery over here 37.005274° 35.401136°
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KM8UmC_vjw8/URj3Je_Q9cI/AAAAAAAABPA/iHxlT_zjSok/s640/turkey.jpg
Cheers
meanwhile both Dutch Patriot Batteries are visible on google earth
37.005274° 35.401136° and
36.980531° 35.292270°
Cheers
Nice find, they must have just updated the imagery!