Israel and Greece signed a record $1.68 billion defence agreement on Friday for the establishment of an International Flight Training Centre for the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) in Kalamata, Greece.
Per the terms of the agreement, Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private arms company, will oversee the setting up and operations of a flight school for the HAF, which will be modelled after the Israeli Air Force (IAF) flight academy and equipped with 10 M-346 training aircraft.
The deal will span over 22 years and is the largest defence procurement pact between the two nations. It was signed by the General Director of GDDIA, Lieutenant General (Ret) Theodoros Lagios HAF, and the Director of the International Defense Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT), Brigadier General (Res) Yair Kulas, and seeks to upgrade the military capabilities and readiness of both sides. Apart from the establishment of a flight academy, Elbit will also upgrade and maintain Greece’s T-6 training planes (Efroni), and provide simulators, training, and logistical support.
During the signing ceremony, Kulas said that the strategic partnership between Athens and Tel Aviv had been “further cemented” by the agreement. Israeli Defence Minister (DM) Benny Gantz expressed the same sentiment by saying that the program “will upgrade the capabilities and strengthen the economies of Israel and Greece” and thus deepen the countries’ bilateral partnership on the “defence, economic and political levels.” Meanwhile, the Greek Defence Ministry said that the deal would “give a final solution to the chronic problem of the training of the pilots of the Hellenic Air Force with satisfactory adequacy of flight hours and new means of training, while at the same time substantially strengthening the strategic cooperation between Greece and Israel.”
Furthermore, following the announcement of the deal, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) tweeted on Sunday that it would be participating in the Iniohos 2021 air exercise in Greece. IAF Commander Amikam Norkin added that the exercise would help both sides for a “wide range of real-time scenarios.” Greece and Israel have conducted joint air exercises previously and Israel’s fighter jets have practised against a possible showdown with the S-300 missile defence system, currently deployed by its arch-foes Iran and Syria.
Close military ties between Israel and Greece also come at a time when both countries are experiencing tensions in their ties with Turkey. Last month, Turkey expressed fierce opposition to an underground electricity cable proposed by Israel, Cyprus, and Greece, and supported by the European Union (EU). Turkey claims that the cable would pass through the territorial waters of Northern Cyprus, thereby violating its sovereignty in the area. Athens and Ankara have also been embroiled in a long-standing conflict over the Aegean Sea and the status of Cyprus. While the two countries have held diplomatic talks aimed at resolving tensions, they have achieved very little success so far.
This has led Greece to broaden its ties with countries having a stake in the Mediterranean, including the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, Egypt, and Israel. In this respect, the foreign ministers of Greece, Israel, Cyprus, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) attended a quadrilateral strategic regional meeting in Cyprus on Friday. All sides discussed the importance of cooperating against regional threats to security, with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi saying that Iran’s proxy network and its nuclear programme are the biggest threats to the region.
Israel, Greece Ink $1.68 Billion Flight Training Deal
The agreement includes the establishment and operation of an International Flight Training Centre for the Hellenic Air Force, by Israel’s Elbit Systems over a period of 22 years.
April 19, 2021
SOURCE: HELLENIC MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEFENCE