History of the Hellenic Air Force
Encyclopedia
The Hellenic Aviation was first established in 1911, with help from French
experts. The Hellenic Air Force participated in the Balkan Wars
, World War I
, the Asia Minor War
, World War II
, the Greek Civil War
and the Korean War
.
IV.G "Alcuin" fighter, on February 8, 1912. The first military flight was made on 13 May of that year by Lieutenant
Dimitrios Kamberos
. In June, Kamberos flew with the "Daedalus", a Farman Aviation Works aircraft that had been converted into a seaplane, setting the foundations of the Naval Aviation
. That September, the Greek Army fielded its first squadron, the Aviators Company (Λόχος Αεροπόρων).
services, but in that year, the Aviation Ministry was founded with Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos
as its first minister, establishing the Air Force as the third branch of the Hellenic Armed Forces. In 1931, the Air Force Academy
, the Scholi Ikaron, was founded.
During the Greco-Italian War
, despite its small size and obsolete equipment, the Greek Air Force gave good account of itself against the Italians, but practically the entire force was destroyed by the Germans in April 1941. The Air Force was rebuilt in the Middle East as part of the Royal Air Force
, flying Spitfires
, Hurricanes
and Martin Baltimore
s. After Greece's liberation in 1944, it returned home and subsequently participated in the Greek Civil War
.
with a transport flight unit. Greece participated in NATO nuclear weapons sharing until 2001, using A-7 Corsair II
s to deploy U.S. tactical B61 nuclear bomb
s from Araxos
Air Base.
Until the late 1980s the Air Force deployed Nike-Hercules Missile
s armed with U.S. nuclear warheads. As a result of Greco-Turkish tensions
around the 1974 Turkish invasion in Cyprus
, the U.S. removed its nuclear weapons from Greek and Turkish alert units to storage. Greece saw this as another pro-Turkish move by NATO and withdrew its forces from NATO’s military command structure from 1974 to 1980.
In 1988 the first 3rd generation fighters were introduced, marking the beginning of a new era: The first Mirage 2000 EG/BG aircraft were delivered to the 114th Combat Wing and equipped the 331 and 332 squadrons. In January 1989, the first F-16 C/D Block 30 arrived in Nea Anchialos (111th Combat Wing) and were allocated between the 330 and 346 squadrons. On March 29, 1991 the RF-84F were retired from service after 34 years and 7 months of operational life. In November 1992 more RF-4E were delivered to the 348 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.
In 1997 the reception of third generation aircraft continued. In July, delivery of forty F-16 Block 50 begun. The new aircraft, equipped with the LANTIRN
navigation and targeting pod as well as AIM-120 AMRAAM
and AGM-88 HARM
missiles, were allocated to the 341 and 347 squadrons.
In 2005, Greece was among the first countries to add the F-16 Block 52+ to its inventory. Sixty of these aircraft were acquired and another thirty are currently in order. This advanced F-16 type is an improved version of the Block 50 featuring a more powerful radar, better communications systems and an upgraded engine.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
experts. The Hellenic Air Force participated in the Balkan Wars
Balkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
, World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the Asia Minor War
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
and the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Establishment and first actions in the Balkan Wars
In 1911 the Greek Government appointed French specialists to form the Hellenic Aviation Service. Six Greek officers were sent to France for training, while the first four "Farman" type aircraft were ordered. The first Greek aviator was Emmanuel Argyropoulos, who flew in a NieuportNieuport
Nieuport, later Nieuport-Delage, was a French aeroplane company that primarily built racing aircraft before World War I and fighter aircraft during World War I and between the wars.-Beginnings:...
IV.G "Alcuin" fighter, on February 8, 1912. The first military flight was made on 13 May of that year by Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Dimitrios Kamberos
Dimitrios Kamberos
Dimitrios Kamberos was the first military aviator in Greek history. His name was spelled variously in contemporary foreign sources, including Camberos and Cambères....
. In June, Kamberos flew with the "Daedalus", a Farman Aviation Works aircraft that had been converted into a seaplane, setting the foundations of the Naval Aviation
Hellenic Naval Air Service
The Hellenic Naval Air Service or ΝΑΥ was the air arm of the Hellenic Navy from 1915 to 1930.The first aviation units in the Greek Armed Forces were formed in June 1912. In the following Balkan Wars, the Hellenic Navy was the first in military history to use aircraft to track down and bomb the...
. That September, the Greek Army fielded its first squadron, the Aviators Company (Λόχος Αεροπόρων).
Inter-war years
Until 1930, Greek Aviation was split in the separate Army Aviation and Naval AviationHellenic Naval Air Service
The Hellenic Naval Air Service or ΝΑΥ was the air arm of the Hellenic Navy from 1915 to 1930.The first aviation units in the Greek Armed Forces were formed in June 1912. In the following Balkan Wars, the Hellenic Navy was the first in military history to use aircraft to track down and bomb the...
services, but in that year, the Aviation Ministry was founded with Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
as its first minister, establishing the Air Force as the third branch of the Hellenic Armed Forces. In 1931, the Air Force Academy
Hellenic Air Force Academy
The Hellenic Air Force Academy is a military academy responsible for supplying the Hellenic Air Force with professionally trained pilots, aircraft engineers and air defence inspectors. It was founded in 1919 as the Military Academy of Aviation and renamed in 1967 as the Icarus School in reference...
, the Scholi Ikaron, was founded.
World War II and Civil War
Greco-Italian War
The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
, despite its small size and obsolete equipment, the Greek Air Force gave good account of itself against the Italians, but practically the entire force was destroyed by the Germans in April 1941. The Air Force was rebuilt in the Middle East as part of the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
, flying Spitfires
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
, Hurricanes
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
and Martin Baltimore
Martin Baltimore
The Martin 187 Baltimore was a two-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States, originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then in service in France. With the fall of France, the production series was...
s. After Greece's liberation in 1944, it returned home and subsequently participated in the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
.
Post-war developments
In the 1950s, the force was rebuilt and organized according to NATO standards. The Greek Air Force participated in the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
with a transport flight unit. Greece participated in NATO nuclear weapons sharing until 2001, using A-7 Corsair II
A-7 Corsair II
The Ling-Temco-Vought A-7 Corsair II is a carrier-based subsonic light attack aircraft introduced to replace the United States Navy's Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, initially entering service during the Vietnam War...
s to deploy U.S. tactical B61 nuclear bomb
B61 nuclear bomb
The B61 nuclear bomb is the primary thermonuclear weapon in the U.S. Enduring Stockpile following the end of the Cold War. It is an intermediate yield strategic and tactical nuclear weapon featuring a two-stage radiation implosion design....
s from Araxos
Araxos
Araxos , Latin form: Araxus is a village located in the municipal unit of Larissos in the northwestern part of Achaea, Greece. It is located on a road connecting south to Lappa and east to Lakkopetra and Kato Achaia and also a road to Kalogria and Metochi...
Air Base.
Until the late 1980s the Air Force deployed Nike-Hercules Missile
Nike-Hercules Missile
The MIM-14 Nike-Hercules , was a solid fuel propelled two-stage surface-to-air missile, used by US and NATO armed forces for high- and medium-altitude air defense...
s armed with U.S. nuclear warheads. As a result of Greco-Turkish tensions
Greco-Turkish relations
The relations between the Greek and the Turkish states have been marked by alternating periods of mutual hostility and reconciliation ever since Greece won its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821...
around the 1974 Turkish invasion in Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, the U.S. removed its nuclear weapons from Greek and Turkish alert units to storage. Greece saw this as another pro-Turkish move by NATO and withdrew its forces from NATO’s military command structure from 1974 to 1980.
In 1988 the first 3rd generation fighters were introduced, marking the beginning of a new era: The first Mirage 2000 EG/BG aircraft were delivered to the 114th Combat Wing and equipped the 331 and 332 squadrons. In January 1989, the first F-16 C/D Block 30 arrived in Nea Anchialos (111th Combat Wing) and were allocated between the 330 and 346 squadrons. On March 29, 1991 the RF-84F were retired from service after 34 years and 7 months of operational life. In November 1992 more RF-4E were delivered to the 348 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.
In 1997 the reception of third generation aircraft continued. In July, delivery of forty F-16 Block 50 begun. The new aircraft, equipped with the LANTIRN
LANTIRN
Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night, or LANTIRN, is a combined navigation and targeting pod system for use on the USAF's premier fighter aircraft — the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon...
navigation and targeting pod as well as AIM-120 AMRAAM
AIM-120 AMRAAM
The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM , is a modern beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. Designed with the same form-factor as the previous generation of semi-active guided Sparrow missiles, it is a fire-and-forget...
and AGM-88 HARM
AGM-88 HARM
The AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile is a tactical, air-to-surface missile designed to home in on electronic transmissions coming from surface-to-air radar systems. It was originally developed by Texas Instruments as a replacement for the AGM-45 Shrike and AGM-78 Standard ARM system...
missiles, were allocated to the 341 and 347 squadrons.
In 2005, Greece was among the first countries to add the F-16 Block 52+ to its inventory. Sixty of these aircraft were acquired and another thirty are currently in order. This advanced F-16 type is an improved version of the Block 50 featuring a more powerful radar, better communications systems and an upgraded engine.