ANKARA, May 20 (Reuters) - Turkey said on Wednesday that Germany would send it a Patriot missile ‌defence system for a six-month deployment from June ‌to replace a system deployed as part of NATO measures in ​southeast Turkey to bolster air defences amid the war in Iran.

In March, Ankara said a U.S. Patriot system was deployed to southeast Turkey, near a NATO radar base, ‌in the face of ⁠missile threats from Iran. NATO defences shot down four ballistic missiles launched from Iran ⁠during the war.

"In addition to the Spanish Patriot air defence system currently deployed in our country, one of the ​two additional ​Patriot systems deployed by ​NATO due to the ‌conflicts between the U.S., Israel, and Iran will be replaced by a German system," the Turkish Defence Ministry said in a statement.

"This replacement is planned to be completed in June, and the system is expected to remain ‌operational for approximately six months," ​it said, adding security evaluations will ​continue in coordination ​with allies.

Turkey, which has NATO's second-largest army, ‌has in recent years taken ​significant steps to ​reduce its reliance on external suppliers in the defence industry. However, despite its efforts, it still lacks ​comprehensive air ‌defences and relies on NATO systems deployed in ​the region for support.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing ​by Daren Butler, Aidan Lewis)