Our country is dominant in the “silent war” of the Archipelago – What will the unmanned Altus offer and how, together with the Romeo helicopters, which will arrive in Greece in the coming months, they will be the “eyes” and “ears” of the surface units .
It may be that at the Naval General Staff everything revolves around the construction of the new Belh@rra frigates and the supply of corvettes for the Greek Fleet, however, at the same time, other equipment programs are also running, very important for strengthening the deterrent power of our Navy.
Political and military leadership have decided to invest both in renewing the surface units and in strengthening the Media for the “silent war” of the Archipelago, wanting our country to remain absolute sovereign at the bottom of the Aegean.
For this reason, it is proceeding with rapid procedures in the acquisition of 7+3 state-of-the-art American MH-60R helicopters. These are the famous Romeo helicopters, the best in the world in anti-submarine warfare, equipped with sonar and high-tech electronic devices, self-protection systems and long autonomy. The first Romeos are expected in Greece in the first months of 2023, with preparations at the Naval Helicopter Base, Kotroni Marathon being feverish to create the appropriate spaces.
In fact, the Chief of the Naval General Staff, Vice-Admiral Stylianos Petrakis closely inspected the work being done so that in the coming months the VEN will welcome the first Romeos.
The Navy, however, does not stop there, since it is also proceeding with the acquisition of five new unmanned A900 Altus helicopters, manufactured in Spain. These are the drones that will form the organic UAV’S of the frigates of the Fleet, along with the organic helicopters of the ships, the always reliable S-70 Aegean Hawk and also the AB-212s, which will be replaced by the Romeos when in a few months reach Greece.
With the acquisition of the Altus, the operational capabilities of the Greek Fleet skyrocket and the quiver for anti-submarine warfare is further strengthened.
According to the manufacturing company, the first A900s will have become fully operational even within the summer and will be integrated directly into the frigates of the Navy. They can fly up to 4 hours in a radius of up to 25 km from the ship, at an altitude of 10,000 feet, at a speed of 58 km per hour. Thus, they will operate in a large radius around the perimeter of the ship, giving valuable information and essentially constituting the “eyes of the ships of the Fleet.
This is another smart and decisive move by the Chief of General Staff, Vice-Admiral Stylianos Petrakis, who quickly agreed and implemented the agreement with the Greek manufacturing company Altus LSA. After the contracting was completed, the fast-paced but essential and complete training of Navy personnel began, while at the same time test flights took place at the Marathon Base. The total cost of both the acquisition of the five A900 Altus and the maintenance and training of the staff amounted to 2 million euros. Included in the cost are the base systems that will be installed on the ships on which the Altus will operate.
It is obvious that the unmanned aircraft will now undertake surveillance missions that until now were undertaken by the manned Aegean Hawk. It is therefore noticeable that the economy is also achieved, since the cost of flying a UAV is much lower than a helicopter, but above all, the risk is avoided.
