Jordan asks US to deploy Patriot air defense missiles

“We have asked the US side to help strengthen our defense system with the Patriot air defense missile system,” Brigadier General Mustafa Hiyari, a Jordanian military spokesman, told state television.

US Patriot missiles were deployed in the kingdom in 2013 following an uprising in neighboring northern Syria, where the kingdom feared a civil war could spread and spark a regional conflict.

US Patriot air defense battery. Photo: Ziv Koren/Flash90

Officials say Jordan is increasingly worried that Israel's relentless bombing of Gaza since a deadly Hamas attack on Israel from the enclave on October 7 could also spill over into a wider conflict.

The Patriot, considered one of America's most advanced air defense systems, is often in short supply and allies around the world are scrambling to acquire it.

Hiyari denied social media reports that the Pentagon is using its bases to transport some equipment and weapons from its warehouses to Israel to strengthen its defense capabilities in the war in Gaza.

However, Western diplomats say the Pentagon has been using Jordanian military facilities in recent months as Washington steps up its military posture in the region.

The US has sent a significant naval force to the Middle East in recent weeks, including two aircraft carriers, their support ships and thousands of additional troops in the region.

Senior Biden administration officials including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have warned of the risk of a major escalation in attacks on US troops in the Middle East and that Iran could seek to widen the Israel-Hamas war.

The kingdom has hundreds of American trainers in the country and is one of the few regional allies to hold extensive exercises with the US military throughout the year.

The Jordanian military is one of Washington's largest recipients of foreign military funding, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Washington has spent hundreds of millions of dollars helping Jordan set up a complex surveillance system known as the Border Security Program to prevent infiltration by rebels from Syria and Iraq.

Mai Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/jordan-de-nghi-my-trien-khai-ten-lua-phong-khong-patriot-post270454.html