Greece, it seems, has entered a rapid pace of armaments upgrade after several years. Of course, the focus may be on Rafale and frigates, but all three bodies will see a significant upgrade, BulgarianMilitary.com reports citing a lengthy Saturday article of the Greek news agency Pentapostagma.
In the face of Ankara’s claims, with all its illegal moves but also the irrational voices of Turkish officials for the demilitarization of the islands, one is the answer: strengthening the defense force of the Army with emphasis on both the Aegean and the Evros.
Besides, it already has state-of-the-art weapons systems and what matters is their maintenance and upgrade in the first phase and then the selective reinforcement with “smart” weapons of new technology, says Costas Sarikas to newpost.gr.
One of them, which has not just entered the “microscope” of the General Staff, as we have mentioned in a previous article, is the Israeli missile SPIKE NLOS, which has already been presented by the Israelis to the Greek officers. The interest in acquiring it is now more than intense and in the coming months developments are expected given the willingness of the Israelis to reach an agreement with the Army.
This is the multi-purpose weapon system (and not only anti-tank) Spike NLOS of the Israeli Rafael. The Spike NLOS incorporates an electro-optical set for target detection and wireless data linking for real-time “instruction” transmission by the pilot.
The 71-kilogram rocket inside the launch can hit a target either directly after launch, or in the process receive changes from the pilot and be redirected to a new target. In any case, the hit accuracy is top notch.
The weapon system is considered to change the “rules of the game” [game changer] thanks to the long-range performance. While the range was set at 25 km, which is already a very high performance, in recent years the manufacturer has reported a range of 32 km, apparently due to the availability of new types of lighter warheads.
The goal of the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Charalambos Lalousis, is for the Army to upgrade its existing weapons systems, such as the multiple MLRS launchers and the RM-70, and to acquire the Israeli supership. Especially for the multiple MLRS launchers, the design envisages both upgrading of the missile system and the ammunition it uses in order to even double their range.
In the face of Ankara’s claims, with all its illegal moves but also the irrational voices of Turkish officials for the demilitarization of the islands, one is the answer: strengthening the defense force of the Army with emphasis on both the Aegean and the Evros.
Besides, it already has state-of-the-art weapons systems and what matters is their maintenance and upgrade in the first phase and then the selective reinforcement with “smart” weapons of new technology, says Costas Sarikas to newpost.gr.
One of them, which has not just entered the “microscope” of the General Staff, as we have mentioned in a previous article, is the Israeli missile SPIKE NLOS, which has already been presented by the Israelis to the Greek officers. The interest in acquiring it is now more than intense and in the coming months developments are expected given the willingness of the Israelis to reach an agreement with the Army.
This is the multi-purpose weapon system (and not only anti-tank) Spike NLOS of the Israeli Rafael. The Spike NLOS incorporates an electro-optical set for target detection and wireless data linking for real-time “instruction” transmission by the pilot.
The 71-kilogram rocket inside the launch can hit a target either directly after launch, or in the process receive changes from the pilot and be redirected to a new target. In any case, the hit accuracy is top notch.
The weapon system is considered to change the “rules of the game” [game changer] thanks to the long-range performance. While the range was set at 25 km, which is already a very high performance, in recent years the manufacturer has reported a range of 32 km, apparently due to the availability of new types of lighter warheads.
The goal of the Chief of General Staff, Lieutenant General Charalambos Lalousis, is for the Army to upgrade its existing weapons systems, such as the multiple MLRS launchers and the RM-70, and to acquire the Israeli supership. Especially for the multiple MLRS launchers, the design envisages both upgrading of the missile system and the ammunition it uses in order to even double their range.
Read more: Erdogan’s ‘insidious’ plan is not aimed at energy but at the Greek islands
Conventional missiles have a range of about 30 kilometers while ATACMS [ArmyTactical Missile System] exceed 160. Maintenance and upgrade is planned for all anti-tank weapons systems available to the Army with the first Russian-made KORNET, the most powerful anti-tank weapon available in its arsenal, with a range that exceeds 5 km.
It is clear that the Spike NLOS is the only choice from the wide variety of high-tech weapons systems offered by Israel, which “makes sense” – compared to any other rather indifferent Israeli weapon that seems to have occupied the leadership – since the Strengthening bilateral relations in the defense sector has as its main goal the acquisition of a serious advantage for the Greek Armed Forces.
The oil conflict between Turkey and Greece and their long-standing relationship
In 2020, tensions between the already long-disputed countries in the Balkans – Greece and Turkey – will escalate sharply again. The reason for this is oil fields located in specific eastern parts of the Mediterranean, which give rise to a territorial dispute between the two Balkan countries.
All this, as expected, not only led to an escalation of political speeches and attacks between Greece and Turkey, but brought the Balkans closer to a possible new war after Athens and Ankara launched a series of military exercises in the region.
At the same time, Germany is trying to play the role of a peacemaker between the Balkan countries, while France has directly decided to support Greece in its conflict with the Turks.
The mission ended with virtually no results. Then France came out on the side of Greece, sending its frigate and helicopter carrier to the Aegean Sea for joint maneuvers with the Greeks.
Note that Turkey and Greece have been at enmity for centuries. It was during the fall of Byzantium, and during the Ottoman Empire, and continues to this day. The last time these countries fought each other in 1974 in Cyprus. Turkey occupied the island after a military coup on it. After the discovery of a significant hydrocarbon reserve off the coast of Cyprus, sovereignty disputes continued.
Conventional missiles have a range of about 30 kilometers while ATACMS [ArmyTactical Missile System] exceed 160. Maintenance and upgrade is planned for all anti-tank weapons systems available to the Army with the first Russian-made KORNET, the most powerful anti-tank weapon available in its arsenal, with a range that exceeds 5 km.
It is clear that the Spike NLOS is the only choice from the wide variety of high-tech weapons systems offered by Israel, which “makes sense” – compared to any other rather indifferent Israeli weapon that seems to have occupied the leadership – since the Strengthening bilateral relations in the defense sector has as its main goal the acquisition of a serious advantage for the Greek Armed Forces.
The oil conflict between Turkey and Greece and their long-standing relationship
In 2020, tensions between the already long-disputed countries in the Balkans – Greece and Turkey – will escalate sharply again. The reason for this is oil fields located in specific eastern parts of the Mediterranean, which give rise to a territorial dispute between the two Balkan countries.
All this, as expected, not only led to an escalation of political speeches and attacks between Greece and Turkey, but brought the Balkans closer to a possible new war after Athens and Ankara launched a series of military exercises in the region.
At the same time, Germany is trying to play the role of a peacemaker between the Balkan countries, while France has directly decided to support Greece in its conflict with the Turks.
The mission ended with virtually no results. Then France came out on the side of Greece, sending its frigate and helicopter carrier to the Aegean Sea for joint maneuvers with the Greeks.
Note that Turkey and Greece have been at enmity for centuries. It was during the fall of Byzantium, and during the Ottoman Empire, and continues to this day. The last time these countries fought each other in 1974 in Cyprus. Turkey occupied the island after a military coup on it. After the discovery of a significant hydrocarbon reserve off the coast of Cyprus, sovereignty disputes continued.
Countries cannot share maritime economic zones. This is a Greek island located near the southern Turkish city of Antalya. Greece believes that part of this area belongs to the so-called Kastelorizo continental shelf. Turkey disputes this, claiming that the island is too small and too far from mainland Greece to make such a claim.
However, this raises new problems as it turns out that the disputed body of water separating Greece and Turkey is the apple of discord and the dispute between them. According to the Turks, the country’s continental shelf should and should be eroded from the mainland and that the territory south of the Greek island is only a few kilometers from the southern coast of Turkey. This is the logic they follow in Ankara and believe that it belongs to its exclusive zone
At the same time, Athens argues and believes that the borders of a country should be determined on the basis of the islands that surround it, and they are an integral part of defining the borders of the continental shelf. Greece makes these claims in its UN maritime law. All this gives the Greeks the exclusive right to the territory, no matter how close it is to the Turkish border. However, there is one very important fact that the Turks are using at the moment, namely that Ankara has not signed the UN law on the law of the sea, which allows it to interpret the situation differently.