“Turkey is a regional power with a highly developed defense industry that aspires to compete in export markets with countries such as the United States, Israel, Germany, France and South Korea” — this could easily be the subtitle of an article in many a Turkish news site or periodical.
Turkey’s international presence has created a kind of “myth” around its capabilities. In any case, Turkey continues to field one of the most powerful armies in NATO and maintains troop deployments in Azerbaijan, the occupied territories of northern Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary (a Nato member), Iraq, Kosovo (part of a Nato mission), Lebanon (UN), Libya, Qatar, Somalia (UN) and Syria.
However, military sources from Greece’s defense ministry told the newspaper To Vima that “Turkey faces a complete lack of anti-aircraft systems.”
A look at The Military Balance 2026, published by the London-based think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) on February 23, shows that Turkey possesses the S‑400 (inactive due to well-known issues with the United States), the Siper Block‑1 system, MIM‑23 “Hawk” fire units, and short-range Hisar‑A+ and Hisar‑O+ units.
In recent days, two ballistic missiles fired from Iran and headed toward Turkey were intercepted. By whom, is the question? By NATO batteries, according to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of Defence, “in addition to the national measures we have taken, NATO has increased air and missile defense measures. In this context, a Patriot missile system has been deployed in Malatya to support the protection of our airspace.”
File photo: A Russian-made S-300 air defense system.
What is omitted is that the Patriot batteries originate from the Ramstein Air Base in Germany (the largest U.S. base in Europe), and approval is expected from Spain— as the two countries cooperate closely in the defense sector.
Until today, Turkey’s air defense had largely been carried out—according to military sources in Athens cited by To Vima—by F‑16 Fighting Falcon warplanes. The problem, however, is not the effectiveness of the F-16s for this mission—although anti-aircraft systems are better suited for it—but that the neighboring country’s F-16 fleet faces maintenance problems and a shortage of spare parts due to the US Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Reports indicate that the availability of Turkish F-16s for daily operations stands at about 60%. This figure is slightly lower than the NATO average. What further worsens the F-16 situation is that many experienced pilots were dismissed or imprisoned after the failed 2016 coup attempt in the country.
Finally, another parameter to consider is that Turkey has signed agreements with the United Kingdom and Gulf states, such as Qatar, for the procurement of new and used Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. The question remains—amid Iranian strikes even against countries friendly to it—whether the used Eurofighters from Gulf states will be delivered on time or whether their current operators will keep them in their arsenals until hostilities end.
File photo: Eurofighter ‘Typhoon’ warplanes.
In any case, the fact that the neighboring country faces problems with the availability of its F-16s (some of which are the older Block 30) as well as the absence of strong anti-aircraft systems does not determine Greece’s moves.
Athens has already deployed Patriot missile system units to Souda Bay Naval Base and to the island of Karpathos, as well as to northern Greece for the protection of Bulgaria (following a request from the neighboring NATO member state). Since 2021, another Patriot battery has also been stationed in Saudi Arabia to protect sensitive targets.
A US-made Patriot air defense battery
At the same time, it is estimated that by March 2027 contracts will have progressed for the anti-aircraft and anti-missile “Achilles Shield,” which will further modernize Greece’s anti-aircraft defense system.
