In response to a request by the Turkish government, NATO has formalized its decision to deploy the Patriot Missile defense in Turkey. That request was first placed in October after Syrian shells fell on Turkey's side of the border.

The Patriot missiles will be deployed by three NATO countries during the next several weeks and will be set up and manned by German and United States troops. Germany and the Netherlands will send their latest versions of the missile system, the PAC-3, and the United States will fill any gaps with its hardware. The complexity and size of the systems precludes a quick deployment to Turkey.

Although the missile system is in its third decade of use, constant upgrades to the system keep the system at the top of its game. The system can be used against aircraft, cruise missiles, and medium and short range ballistic missiles. The system has a range of 100 miles and can reach 80,000 feet.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen stressed to reporters that the deployment of the missile defense system, with its missiles,radar, command and control centers, communications and other elements, is in no way the first phase in setting up a no-fly zone in Syria. Although he did say, “To anyone who would want to attack Turkey, we say, ‘Don’t even think about it!'”

The missiles will have no offensive capability and are armed only with non-explosive projectiles. Even so, Russia has expressed concern over the planned deployment. Russia points out that Syria is in no position to attack any of its neighbors and that the October shelling was just an accident.

The deployment now brings the United States and NATO closer to the conflict in Syria and the possiblity of western hardware being used against the Assad regime. Neither entity wants an escalation to the conflict and Washington refuses to entertain proposals to set up no-fly zones in the middle eastern country.