Jordan: U.S. to deploy F-16s, anti-missile batteries to protect against Syria

Jordan security heads said on Wednesday that the United States is going to deploy anti-missile batteries and F-16 fighter jets to the nation as a precautionary measure against a Syrian attack.

The deployment is set for the coming days, said two security officials involved in the mission who requested anonymity, The Associated Press reported. The United States is going to send and maintain either one or two Patriot missile launchers on Jordan’s northern border with Syria, along with several F-16 jets, AP reported.

The U.S. is already sending a squadron of F-16 jets — either 12 or 24 — to participate in a June 9 military training exercise with international forces called “Eager Lion.” But the jets, and Patriot missile launchers, will remain at the border at the end of the military exercise, specifically to stave off any attack from Syria, the officials said in the AP report.

The officials didn’t know how long the U.S. would leave its fighter jets and anti-missile batteries on the border to protect the Jordanian kingdom. The military training exercise wraps June 20, AP reported. The U.S. military only confirmed that the equipment would remain upon Jordan’s request.

“If the Jordanian government, based on their security needs,” and especially due to the Syrian conflict, “requests extending the deployment of those assets, we will consider it,” said Army Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for the Defense Department, in the AP report.