Turkey is deploying lots of Air Defense systems in Syria and Libya

In recent months, Turkey has deployed an array of
air defense missile systems in Syria and Libya to deter and defend against air
and drone attacks mounted by its rivals in these war zones.
On February 27, airstrikes killed 34 Turkish
soldiers deployed in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib during clashes with
pro-regime forces. It was the largest single loss of Turkish troops in a single
incident in years.
Turkey responded ferociously, launching Operation
Spring Shield. It used its formidable armed drones to devastate Syrian ground
forces and armor. Turkish Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters shot down
three Syrian warplanes with long-range AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles
without having to leave Turkish airspace.
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A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the clashes in
early March. However, Turkey quickly realized the importance of air defenses in
the volatile region. It had already requested the U.S. deploy MIM-104 Patriot
missiles on its southern border shortly after launching Operation Spring
Shield.
Aside from its controversial purchase of S-400 air
defenses from Russia, which it hasn’t activated yet, Turkey’s air defenses are
mostly short- and medium-range and relatively antiquated.
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The U.S. did not deploy any Patriots in Turkey this
year. The only NATO country to deploy a Patriot battery in Turkey this year is
Spain.
Ankara has since deployed its own MIM-23 air defense
missiles in Idlib. However, that system is much older and much less effective
than the PAC-3 Patriot.
The Turkish press also cited an official in early
March saying that Turkey would deploy its domestically-built Hisar low-altitude
air defense missiles to Idlib. However, it’s unclear if any of these missiles
were actually fielded.
It’s also been claimed that Turkey even deployed old
Soviet-era S-200 air defense systems, acquired from Ukraine, in northern Idlib.
This claim is unverified and also highly unlikely.
The Turkish military is also becoming more deeply
involved in the civil war in Libya where it’s supporting the U.N.-recognized
Government of National Accord (GNA), based in the capital Tripoli that controls
the west, against General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), based in
Benghazi that controls the east.
In Libya, Turkey has deployed a formidable array of
air defense missiles in the country’s west and has also made significant
headway in establishing an “air defense bubble” around Tripoli.
As The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
observed: “The combination of medium-range U.S.-made MIM-23 Hawk missile
systems, Hisar short-range SAMs, and Korkut antiaircraft guns created a layered
defense over critical infrastructure and reduced the threat to GNA drone ground
stations and launch operations.”
“This protection, combined with an increase in
Turkish operators and equipment, allowed Libyan government forces to increase
the number and effectiveness of their drone operations,” the report added.
While formidable, Turkish air defenses in western
Libya have their limitations.
Turkish military analyst Metin Gurcan, recently
pointed out that “medium- and high-altitude air defense is vital for air
dominance in the Sirte-al-Jufra axis, but this remains a problem for Turkey,
though low-altitude air defense has been secured through the deployment of the
Hisar air defense systems in Libya.”
Gurcan went on to note that Turkey’s far more
advanced high-altitude S-400s haven’t been activated and the prospect of
transferring those sophisticated missiles – which could establish a
game-changing Anti Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) zone over wherever they are
deployed – to Libya “is out of question.”
Turkey also deployed two MIM-23 Hawk batteries at
al-Watiya airbase. They did not seem to have hindered an airstrike on July 3
carried out by unidentified warplanes, although they may not yet have been
fully set up when that strike occurred.
The jets that attacked al-Watiya – which was
captured from the LNA by a Turkish-backed GNA offensive in May that broke the
LNA siege on Tripoli and enabled the GNA to go on the offensive – likely
belonged to a foreign air force supporting the LNA. One Turkish official said
the jets were Dassault Mirage fighters. If true, then they were most likely
Mirage 2000 jets belonging to the United Arab Emirates, a key backer of Haftar.
The Arab Weekly, on the other hand, cited informed
sources who claim the aircraft were Dassault Rafale jets, not Mirages. This
would limit the attackers to either Egypt or France, both of which possess
those multirole fighter jets and both of which support the LNA.
The LNA wants to prevent Turkey from establishing a
base in al-Watiya and further solidify its growing presence in the country by
creating more air defense bubbles across the west.
Turkey wants to help the GNA push on its offensive
and capture the strategically-important city of Sirte and the al-Jufra region,
including the eponymous airbase where Russia delivered MiG-29 and Su-24
warplanes in May.
What happens next in Libya is anyone’s guess. Turkey
is likely to retain its presence and increase the number of its air defense
missiles in Libya, especially if the GNA advances further eastward in the
coming weeks.