Rota, with which the balance of power in the Aegean will not be disturbed, wants to carve out the Navy through its equipment design.
After the change of track at the operational level, which is carried out with the agreement to build the Belharra digital frigates, as well as the “trumpeting” of the Supreme Naval Council for the activation of the acquisition program of the corvettes that will join the Greek fleet, the information of Liberal.gr they want to prepare yet another important mosaic that will enter the mosaic of the modernization of the Navy.
This is none other than the program to upgrade and strengthen the submarine fleet. Reliable information sources inform Liberal.gr that the preliminary work for the modernization of the four “invisible” submarines of the “Papanikolis” class is in the foreground. In addition, the market research that has begun to replace the older type of submarines that the Navy has will gradually take on a more intensive nature.
In this direction, as stated by a reliable information source, the criteria are the capabilities provided by the “Papanikolis” class submarines, but this does not imply that the solutions under consideration come exclusively from the German market. On the contrary, it is said that cases have already been identified from the showcases of the French and Italian defense industry that have similar capabilities to the Type 214 submarines.
In any case, the specific program is part of the medium-long term planning of the Navy in the context of which, as explained, the solutions that exist and the proposals that will be made should be linked with the economic and technical planning of the staff which is obviously a function of the budgetary possibilities of the country.
In this light, preparations are being intensified for the corvette acquisition program, for which the second step took place on Wednesday, as announced by the “Kathimerini” publication. The French, Italians and Dutch are fighting for the program. On the Greek side, they expect the three “suitors” to submit their updated proposals for the 1.5 billion euro budget program by the end of November at the latest, which, together with the modernization of the “MEKO” class frigates, will reach possibly surpassing 2 billion.
The information processed by the Greek staff shows the French side preparing a proposal that includes the construction of three “Gowind” type corvettes along with the activation of the option, at a more favorable price, for the fourth Belharra frigate. Equally strong is the Italian candidacy for the “Doha” class corvettes, for which, in order to avoid the scope of delays, the Greek-French strategic partnership agreement will serve as a model.
The Italian proposal also satisfies the criterion for the involvement of Greek shipyards in the corvette program as interest has been expressed in the Elefsina shipyards. This is also one of the elements that leaves behind the Dutch candidacy, which is not accompanied by the same warm interest in the domestic shipbuilding industry.
