The Army Air Force enters the process of universal reinforcement with the aim of maintaining the scepters of primacy for many years to come.
The Greek Army has one of the largest fleets of helicopters in Europe. A position which he not only has no intention of losing, but on the contrary wants to strengthen by upgrading both numerically and qualitatively.
A few days ago, the General Directorate of Equipment (GDAEE) sent a letter of interest to the USA for the supply of a total of 60 helicopters. To confirm what we wrote on enikos.gr on June 23, the leadership of the Army General Staff (GAS) is moving quickly to strengthen the Army Aviation, with the formation of two Battalions (or squadrons in aviation terminology) of Attack Helicopters.
According to what has become known, the list includes a request for the supply of 10 state-of-the-art Apache helicopters “E – Echo”, 10 Chinook transport helicopters “F = Foxtrot” and 40 Blackhawk “L – Lima” helicopters.
As we have revealed since January 2020, Greece had seriously considered the Israeli proposal to upgrade the first generation helicopters, as it was submitted to the technical echelon in charge of the matter.
Greece currently has 28 Apache attack helicopters. 9 of them are of “D” configuration and the remaining 19 of “A” configuration, which is also the first row of the type. The Israelis offered an upgrade package of 19 old helicopters with electronics of their own development and manufacture, making them equal and in some respects better than the “Ds”.
The upgrade was finally approved and includes the replacement of the optics and the certification by the manufacturing company (Boeing), with a price that reaches 36 million euros. The price is considered extremely favorable on the one hand because other countries that proceeded with a relevant upgrade were charged around 6 million per helicopter. Furthermore, Boeing itself does not upgrade and no longer support the “A” type.
As explained to enikos.gr by a man with long experience in Apache, with the new configuration, the helicopter gets a completely digital cockpit with much better and lighter materials, and the Israelis also install weights in order not to lose its weight.
At the same time as the supply of the 10 new Apaches in the “E” version, there is a disposition to upgrade the existing 9 “D” version to “E”.
So there will be 2 homogeneous squadrons – one with upgraded “A” to “D” and another with new and upgraded “E”.
Combined with the Kiowa “Indians of the Aegean”, which have caught on for good work, the GES plans to create in the coming years one of the most powerful helicopter forces in the wider region, giving the Army upgraded capabilities in close support operations.
Upgrading the helicopters will increase the expectancy by 15 to 20 years.
