The process of strengthening Ukraine with military aid from the West continues uninterrupted and the initiatives of countries that have remained in the dark for quite some time are being revealed. The facts are that this policy will continue, led by the USA, but they have limited possibilities of granting weapons systems of Eastern origin, which was the material of the first request, as the armed forces of Ukraine were equipped with it.
Little by little, however, the flow of eastern material is limited and the opportunity that exists for countries that have decided to get rid of it, agreeing to an exchange with more capable material of western origin, from the USA or another European country, will soon cease to exist. Greece is one of the countries that has, until today, actively participated in the allied effort to help Ukraine with military material, but has concluded only one agreement of similar content. This is the Soltz-Mitsotakis agreement for the exchange of equal numbers of BMP-1 armored vehicles of the Greek Army with stored Marder 1A3s, which will provide the equipment of three Mechanized Infantry Battalions in Thrace with a remarkable TOMA and, by extension, the general upgrading of the readiness of the respective battalions in ASDEN’s Zone of Responsibility, freed from the problematic BMP-1s, received easy-to-maintain M113s.
Is there a possibility for other similar production agreements? And even of equal or higher gravity?
The granting of other Eastern origin material from the arsenal of the Hellenic Armed Forces does not seem to have a perspective, for various operational and practical reasons.
However, in our opinion, there is a very good opportunity, through consensus and cooperation between the Hellenic Republic and the Republic of Cyprus.
The Cypriot government has already decided to sell the 11 Mi-35P attack helicopters to Serbia, with the aim of financing with the consideration that Nicosia will ensure, the supply of 6+6 equipped H145M helicopters, reported cost €140 million and time 5-year delivery. The central idea is for Athens and Nicosia to agree on the concession of the Mi-35P to Greece, with the corresponding consideration agreed with Belgrade, after an Athens-Washington agreement has been reached, so that the Russian helicopters can be transferred to Ukraine and the American side to offer the Greek Army similar aviation material.
The Greek Army has informed the US agencies of its interest in the supply of attack helicopters AH-64E Apache, CH-47F Chinook and UH-60M Black Hawk. On these three types and categories of helicopters, the GES plan for the development of the Army Aviation in the medium to long term is based. The related commissions, however, involve high costs.
