An Iranian ballistic missile was aimed at Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey and was shot down by a US Navy ship in the Mediterranean using a Standard Missile 3 interceptor, a US military source told journalist Michael Weiss of The Insider.
US military source tells me regarding the Iranian missile strike on Turkey, it was “launched at around 11:40 p.m. EST at Incirlik Air Base. A US Navy ship in the Med shot it down with an SM-3.”
— Michael Weiss (@michaeldweiss) March 4, 2026
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Turkish airspace was “neutralized” by air and missile defense elements deployed in the eastern Mediterranean, framing the intercept as carried out by “NATO” defenses. The ministry said debris fell in Hatay province and that there were no casualties.
A US military source offered a different account, telling Weiss that a US Navy ship in the Mediterranean fired a Standard Missile 3 interceptor to shoot down the missile and that the intended target was İncirlik Air Base, a facility in southern Turkey used by US forces. Turkey’s statement did not name Incirlik as the target and did not identify any US platform or interceptor.
According to the WSJ, the Iranian drone heading toward Turkey reportedly targeted Incirlik Air Base. Turkey is unlikely to invoke NATO’s Article 5, but Ankara should consider Article 4 consultations—as it did in 2003 during the Iraq War, when allies deployed Patriot systems. With… https://t.co/B9lE2IgXSy
— enes esen (@msenesesen) March 4, 2026
Turkish and US officials played down the likelihood that the incident would lead Turkey to invoke NATO’s collective defense clause under Article 5.
Ankara has a separate option under NATO’s Article 4, which allows an ally to request consultations when it believes its security is threatened. Turkey invoked Article 4 in February 2003 ahead of the Iraq War, a process that led to defensive assistance including Patriot deployments.
İncirlik, near the city of Adana, is a Turkish Air Force base that hosts US forces and is a long-standing hub for NATO operations in the region.