The Patriots can be used to intercept missiles and planes.

Officials from the 28-member alliance meeting in Brussels have said that the US-made missiles will be for purely defensive purposes.

"NATO’s position is clear. Any deployment would be to protect turkey. It would be purely defensive in nature. It will in no way support a no fly zone or any offensive operation," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.

“I believe that the deployment of patriot missiles will serve as an effective deterrence and therefore deescalate the situation along the Syrian-Turkish border,” Rasmussen continued.

But some say the missiles won't be used for deterrence – and that a broader agenda may be in place.

“A patriot missile is an attack weapon. It’s not a deterrent at all. Especially considering the Syrian army would never launch missiles across the border against Turkey because they know they’d be attacking a NATO ally,” Asia Times journalist Pepe Escobar told RT.