The first Patriot contingent comes back to Spain

The ICC arrived in Turkey recently (Photo: MAAA)

The Battery contingent on their arrival (Photo: MAAA)

The Patriot Battery which Spain has deployed in Turkey within the framework of the NATO mission is in new hands since 22 July: Those of the second contingent put together by the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Command for this operation, the bulk of which comes from the 74th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment.

The first contingent, also made up mainly of personnel from that unit, is already back in Spain except for six members charged with materiel maintenance; they will be relieved at the end of the week by colleagues who have just finished a course on the subject in the US. Their return will mark the end of the redeployment of the first contingent, which was deployed for six months as part of the mission to defend Turkish airspace from the threat of a missile attack from neighbouring Syria.

The new Spanish unit will continue to perform the same duties using the Patriot materiel which arrived in the Incirlik Air Base in Adana (Turkey) at the end of June. That materiel is part of the latest acquisitions from Germany and includes an Information and Coordination Central (ICC) which allows complete integration within the allied antimissile defence system without support from others.

Like their predecessors, the Spanish soldiers will split their time between the location of the Battery – the Recai Engin military base, next to the civilian airport in Adana – and the facilities of the unit at Incirlik Air Base. They will be manning the Battery 24/7 to ensure the protection of the almost two million people who live in the town.