IZMIR, Turkey — The Turkish Ministry of National Defense has announced the deployment of an additional Patriot air and missile defense system to İncirlik Air Base in southern Turkey.

The decision follows a ballistic missile launch from Iran on March 13, reportedly directed toward the vicinity of İncirlik Air Base.

According to Turkish and NATO sources, the projectile entered Turkish airspace before being successfully intercepted and neutralized by NATO air and missile defense assets operating in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The deployment of the additional Patriot battery was authorized by NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) in Ramstein, Germany, and will operate alongside the Spanish-operated Patriot system stationed at İncirlik since 2015 as part of NATO assurance measures for Turkey.

The latest deployment brings the number of NATO Patriot batteries stationed in Turkey to three, including two systems now positioned at İncirlik Air Base under NATO arrangements.

A separate Patriot system was deployed from Allied Air Command last week near the Kürecik radar site outside Malatya. An AN/TPY-2 early-warning radar has operated at Kürecik since 2012 as part of NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) architecture, providing early detection and tracking of ballistic missile threats originating from the Middle East.

Since the start of Operation Epic Fury, NATO forces have successfully intercepted three ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward Turkish territory.