Pentagon source tells Malatya radar’s details

WASHINGTON - Hürriyet

Hürriyet photo

Turkey is the approving authority for a NATO radar system recently launched in the eastern province of Malatya, while the U.S. coordinates the operation and maintenance of the system, according to Pentagon sources.

“We will handle the operation and maintenance,” a senior Pentagon source told daily Hürriyet. Although the radar is part of NATO’s defense system, it is not connected to NATO yet.

Sources said a plan to integrate the system with NATO is expected to be finalized at a NATO summit in May. Information from the radar installation will be shared with the NATO bases in Ramstein, Germany and Rota, Spain. The radar system in Kürecik, Malatya, known as TPY-2, cost around 150 to 200 million dollars, sources said.

It will be operated by a 30-person American unit, including 10 soldiers, and will costs 40 million dollars to operate annually, which will be paid by the U.S. Turkey is responsible for the security of the radar, but the radar is not protected by a missile system. Turkey has Patriot missiles, but the radar is not integrated with them. Riki Ellison, the founder and chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, a non-profit organization, told daily Hürriyet that the U.S. might offer Turkey a discount on Patriots, in exchange for protecting the NATO radar in Kürecik.

There are only four such radar systems in the world. The TPY-2 is also currently active in Japan and Israel. Another such system is in test phase in Hawaii.