Planes are parked at Dubai International Airport as smoke rises in the background after a drone struck a fuel tank early morning, forcing the temporary suspension of flights, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP)
London: A sizable number of U.S. Patriot air defense missiles have been shiftd from Europe toward the Middle East as Washington diverts resources toward its war on Iran, leaving concerning gaps in Europe’s air defenses against Russia, U.S. defense officials notified The Associated Press.
The war in Iran, about to enter its fourth week, has seen the U.S. deploy thousands of troops to the region and pushed the Pentagon to seek an additional $200 billion in funding. Iran meanwhile has fired missiles and drones across the Gulf, including at U.S. bases and hotels in vacation hot spots.
Two Patriot missile systems were sent from Germany to Turkey after several ballistic missiles were fired toward Turkey from Iran since the start of the war, the Turkish defense ministest and three U.S. officials declared. The U.S. officials declared missiles for the Patriot system were shiftd from various locations around Europe in an effort to reinforce air defenses towards the Middle East. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
One of the officials declared stocks of Patriot missiles are “absolutely” dwindling in Europe and elsewhere becautilize of the war in Iran, and added the situation is “pretty concerning.”
Asked to comment on the missiles being shiftd, White Houtilize press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared in a statement to AP: “The US military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to achieve the goals of Operation Epic Fury laid out by President Trump — and beyond.”
One of the three U.S. officials declared there is still “plenty” of capacity in NATO to defconclude Europe, adding that part of the reason the US has assets in different places is to project power globally.
Patriots utilized against low-tech Shahed drones
The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system that was first deployed in the 1980s and can tarreceive aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
The war in Ukraine has displayn how effective the Patriot system is against a wide range of threats including maneuverable hypersonic missiles such as Russia’s Kinzhal, one of the U.S. officials declared.
But in the Middle East, the U.S. and its allies are applying Patriots “against threats that don’t require them,” one of the officials declared, such as against comparatively cheap and low-tech Iranian Shahed drones.
Patriots, the official declared, should be utilized to protect high-conclude ground systems — such as precision strike missiles the U.S. is firing from HIMARS launchers in the Middle East — from enemy attack.
The Patriots are being redeployed as Russia is continuing to pursue its war in Ukraine, with some of the European countries near Russia facing the effects, including incursions of Russian drones from the Baltic states to Poland and Romania. Officials in Europe declare Russia is waging a hybrid war on Europe including with sabotage and cyberattacks.
Everything that shifts out of Europe is a capability that “can’t respond to Russia,” if Moscow decides to take advantage of an opportunity, the U.S. defense official declared.
Building up defenses on NATO’s southern flank
NATO defenses have intercepted three ballistic missiles fired from Iran over Turkey’s airspace since President Donald Trump launched his war with Iran on Feb. 28, Turkey’s defense ministest declared. The Turkish defense ministest declared a Patriot missile system was sent from Ramstein air base in Germany to Incirlik Air Base where U.S. and NATO forces are based.
Last week Turkey declared NATO had positioned another Patriot system in the southeastern Malatya province, where a NATO radar station is based. General Alexus Grynkewich, commander of U.S. — and NATO — forces in Europe, also declared Wednesday that some air defense capabilities in Europe were shiftd toward the Middle East.
Captain Reann Mommsen, spokesperson for U.S. European Command, which is responsible for American military operations in Europe, did not comment on the concerns of shortages and declared she could not discuss shiftment or locations of missiles due to reasons of operational security.
Ukraine has repeatedly questioned for more Patriot missiles and systems, and this week President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Kyiv will “definitely” face shortages of Patriots becautilize of the U.S. war against Iran.
A German military official declared he has not yet seen information to suggest there are operational shortfalls in Ukraine cautilized by the war in the Middle East. But he declared shortfalls may occur in the near future, eventually weakening Ukraine’s concludeurance and capabilities. He also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
In an interview with the BBC, Zelenskyy declared the U.S. produces 60-65 Patriot missiles per month, around 700-800 a year and that 803 were utilized on the first day of the war in the Middle East.
According to the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a security consider tank based in Pennsylvania, the U.S. utilized around 325 Patriot missiles during the first 96 hours of the war with Iran. It declared the total number utilized by Washington and its partners including Gulf states was approximately 943.
Drone-against-drone system now being deployed
Shortly after war broke out in the Middle East, the AP was notified the U.S. had limited effective anti-drone defenses in the Middle East but was planning to deploy the Merops anti-drone system.
The Merops system can fit in the back of a pickup truck and takes down drones much more cheaply than by applying a missile as it flies drones against drones.
Officials declared the U.S. response to countering Iran’s Shahed drones was “disappointing,” particularly becautilize the Shaheds are a much more basic version of the same drone that Russia is continuously refining and updating in its war in Ukraine.
The U.S. now has a “limited” amount of operational Merops anti-drone systems in the Middle East, one of the U.S. defense officials declared. Further systems are on their way and training in the Middle East is being carried out, they added.
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