Entries Tagged as 'Turkey'

Four U.S. Navy ships to be stationed at Rota as part of missile defense system

Stars and Stripes
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
October 5, 2011

Four U.S. Navy ships will be stationed at Naval Station Rota, Spain, beginning in 2013 as part of a European missile defense system, defense officials announced Wednesday.

The ships will bring with them about 3,000 U.S. military personnel and family members, roughly doubling the American community in Rota, which presently serves as a logistics hub and has no ships home-ported there.

At a news conference Wednesday evening at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hailed the agreement as a first step in a 10-year European missile defense plan, as well as a vindication of the alliance’s relevance.

“This announcement should send a very strong signal that the United States is still continuing to invest in this alliance,” Panetta said. …

The ships will act as a floating defense shield against potential missile strikes from Iran.

All are equipped with the Aegis combat system, a complex array of sensors, communications and weapons systems that can detect, track and fire on incoming missiles and other threats, according to the Navy.

These ships make up the first piece of the European Phased Adaptive Approach missile defense plan, which the White House introduced in 2009 and NATO endorsed last year.

Last month, Turkey agreed to emplace U.S. early warning radar on its soil, facing Iran and linked to the Aegis system. …

Read in full: www.stripes.com/news/four-u-s-navy-ships-to-be-stationed-at-rota-as-part-of-missile-defense-system-1.157031

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U.S. Missile Cruisers to Sail in Turkish Waters

Trend Daily News
October 4, 2011

Following an agreement to be reached to deploy European missile defense system (MDS) in Turkey, the U.S. missile cruisers carrying anti-aircraft missiles modified SM-2 blok3B will be deployed in Turkish territorial waters in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, Hurriyet newspaper reported citing a source NATO.

These ships with a modified version of the Aegis system have the ability to watch over the airspace of neighboring countries.

An early-warning radar system will be deployed in Turkey, Turkish Foreign Ministry’s official representative Selcuk Unal said earlier.

He said the decision to deploying anti-missile defense system was adopted at the NATO summit in Lisbon in 2010. Turkey supported the initiative from the beginning.

The already established anti-missile defense systems, including Aegis, are planned to be deployed in Europe during the first stage of creating European MDS. According to the plan, it must be completed this year. The radar is an offshore radar detection system AN / TPY -2. The deployment of the radar and interceptor missiles will reflect regional ballistic missile threats to Europe. …

Read on: http://en.trend.az/regions/met/turkey/1940102.html

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Turkey asks US to base Predator drone on Turkish soil

Today’s Zaman
September 11, 2011

The United States is considering a request from Turkey to base a fleet of Predator drones on its soil for cross-border operations against terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq, a news report said on Sunday.

The Obama administration has not yet made a decision on the Turkish request, the report in Washington Post said. The Predators have been flying from Iraqi bases since 2007 and the US shares data from the planes’ surveillance with Turkey as part of the two NATO allies’ cooperation against the PKK. Now that the US forces are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by end of the year, this cooperation may effectively come to an end unless new bases are found for the Predators. …

The report came after Turkey announced that it suspended all military agreements with Israel due to Israeli refusal to apologize for killing eight Turks and a Turkish-American on an aid ship trying to break the blockade of Gaza on May 31, 2010. …

Read on: www.todayszaman.com/news-256422-report-turkey-asks-us-to-base-predator-drone-on-turkish-soil.html

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Turkey opposed to U.S. missile defense deployment

RIA Novosti
December 16, 2009

Turkey objects to plans of deploying U.S. missile defense elements on its soil because it could worsen relations with Russia and Iran, national media reported Wednesday.

According to Milliyet daily, U.S. President Barack Obama last week proposed placing a “missile shield” on Turkish soil.

“Both Russia and Iran will perceive that [deployment] as a threat,” a Turkish military source was quoted as saying.

U.S. President Barack Obama recently scrapped plans for Poland and the Czech Republic to host missile shield elements to counter possible strikes from Iran.

Due to a re-assessment of the threat for Iran, Washington announced a new scheme for a more flexible system, with a combination of land and sea-based interceptors based on the Standard Missile interceptor, SM-3.

Under the new plan, the U.S. would place ship-based SM-3s in the North and Mediterranean seas in 2011, and mobile land-based SM-3s in Central Europe by 2015.

The paper said “such technology will turn Turkey into a legitimate target for Iran’s medium and shorter range missiles.”

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091216/157260838.html

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