Pirinçlik Air Base

It was known as NATO's frontier post for monitoring the former Soviet Union and the Middle East, completely closed on 30 September 1997.

This return was the result of the general drawdown of US bases in Europe and improvement in space surveillance technology.

The base near the southeastern city of Diyarbakir housed sensitive electronic intelligence-gathering systems for listening on the Middle East, Caucasus and Russia.

Although limited by their mechanical technology, Pirinçlik's two radars gave the advantage of tracking two objects simultaneously in real time.

The 10-meter diameter dish antenna system has a variable focus feed horn system which can provide a wide beam for target detection, and a narrow beam for tracking (other similar radars have scan rates in excess of

Lincoln Laboratory’s phase-coded pulse-modulation receiver/exciter for the VHF AN/FPS-17 radar, built at the Pirinçlik site in eastern Turkey by the General Electric Company, allowed U.S. observers to monitor missile test launches from Kapustin Yar, deep within the Soviet Union.

Pirinçlik Air Station was a remote site, where personnel lived in quonset hut dorms, had one club for socialization, could not leave the base at night, and had few shopping or entertainment opportunities other than an occasional temporary duty to İncirlik.

On September 30, 1996, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Syracuse, N.Y., was awarded a $16,221,360 face value increase to a fixed-price incentive contract to provide for FY 1997 operation, maintenance, and logistic support of the sensor facilities at Pirinclik Air Station.