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George sarris
The award-winning American writer Ernest Miller Hemingway completed the writing of the famous war novel “Farewell to Arms” in 1929, which brought him significant literary and commercial recognition, while three years later the script was moved to the first film. . Exactly the same title could be given this year and onwards Hellenic Armed Forces, since in 2021 he will bid farewell to a total of five legendary weapons, most of which accompanied thousands of Greeks during their military service for more than four decades.
The G3 will give way to the new “Greek rifle” attack
The 7.62mm G-3 assault rifle, which may have been considered reliable but is now obsolete, will be retired first. “Served” in Greek army for 44 whole years, from the first years of Metapolitism onwards. However, it has never been used in military operations, which means that most of these rifles are in excellent condition.
Its arrival in the Armed Forces of our country began in 1977 when the Greek State signed a contract with the West German company Heckler und Koch for its construction, by the then Greek Arms Industry. Military units began to be equipped with them from the early 1980s. They were distributed in almost all camps, and the only units that did not use them were the Special Forces and the Critical Army Corps (4th SS). “Thrace”) which guarded the Greek-Turkish land border, which continued to use FN rifles, as well as some units of the security forces that brought US weapons.
In the late 1990s, the armament of the 4th Army Corps was replaced by G3 rifles. G3A3 is still used by soldiers and G3A4 by NCOs and from the 1990s onwards by junior officers and soldiers specializing in tank crews (marksmen, drivers, gunners, commanders).
The G3 is a combat rifle that works with the deceleration system. It combines sniper and light machine gun firepower, with the G3A3 with a plastic stock and the G3A4 with a metal folding. On the left side of the weapon is the cocking lever, as well as the fire and safety lever, while the magazine stop is located between the magazine and the trigger guard. It is worth noting, however, that units of selected men from the Armed Forces such as commandos, marines and members of the Z-MAK (Amphibious Squad) already have the most modern M16 / M4.
Currently the competent services Army Staff evaluate the rifles of other countries to find the right “Greek rifle” that our army will have in the coming years. The G3 replacement is reported to be “much more reliable and of purely NATO standards.”
Colt M1911 45 caliber pistols also retired from officers
Another weapon that the Greek Armed Forces will say goodbye to in 2021 will be the Colt M1911 0.45-inch pistol, whose replacement will also be made in our country. This is the so-called 45ari, as many people know, which is of American origin and the first pieces arrived in Greece in 1950, a few months after the end of the Civil War and a few months before we joined NATO. To this day it is used by superior officers but also by hoplites with special duties, e.g. Eg by the sailors who are on guard at the entrance of warships when they are moored in ports. It is very easy to maintain, requires no tools to untie and tie, has an effective range of 50 meters, maximum range of 1,465 meters, weighs 1,021 kilograms and carries 7 bullets.
The first Colt Model 1911 (or M1911 for short) was built for the needs of the United States cavalry in the early 1900s. Yes, 1911 is the year they became the official service weapon of the United States Army. Even today it is used by the Armed Forces of at least 20 countries around the world, which of course includes Greece (this semiautomatic is used with minor improvements such as the 2004 M1911A1 and M1911A4 models. It stopped using it since 1985 when it was replaced by the Italian Beretta M9 which had a much smaller diameter (9 mm) and from 2017 the Sig P320.
Final titles for ELVO-assembled Mercedes jeeps
At the same time, within the year, the legendary off-road Mercedes SUVs of the Greek Armed Forces and Hellenic Police, which were assembled (not manufactured) by the Greek Vehicle Industry, founded in 1972 and originally named Steyer Hellas SA, will be retired. with the factory located in the Sindos Thessaloniki Industrial Zone.
What most people don’t know is that Greece produced more than 10,000 Mercedes Benz W462 SUVs of various variants (usually for personnel and cargo transport, but also for command vehicles, ambulances and weapons) and at least 250 other vehicles with right hand drive to meet your needs. Cyprus National Guard. For decades these cars “swallowed” the miles of Greek roads, but now is the time to retire once they have completed their life cycle and do not meet NATO safety standards.
The Mercedes Benz G-Klasse jeep, as it is also known, has been manufactured from 1979 to the present, with almost no cosmetic changes, with only gradual improvements in its technological baggage, equipment and active and passive safety. In our country, ELVO manufactured as military series Mercedes-Benz W462 the models 240GD / 24 (weight 1.25 tons) and 290GD / 28 (weight 1.5 tons), which had come to replace the even older Willys M38A1, Ford. M151A1 and Volkswagen Typ 181. The new vehicles selected by the General Staff of the National Defense will necessarily have strong armor in the windows and windshield and solid security in the passenger compartment.
End of an era for legendary Steyer trucks
The legendary will be off the road until the end of 2021 trucks Steyer of the Greek Army. Almost everyone who has served in the army in the infantry has joined them at least once in their life. It was the official vehicle for the transport of personnel and supplies of the Armed Forces and of course it transported the soldiers from watchtower to watchtower when they were out. Go everywhere without touching. From the mountain ridges to the rivers.
It began to be manufactured in our country in 1972 by Steyer Hellas SA mentioned above, in two different versions (680M and 680M3). It was based on the Steyer 680M manufactured by the large Austrian parent company Steyer Daimler Puch (this was also the factory in Thessaloniki, which was renamed in 1987 to the Greek Vehicle Industry and transferred to the Greek State) in the period 1960 – 1984. Theoretically, its capacity was for 19 soldiers in the carriage but we all know that, at least in our country, it stacked many more. Many did not obtain a truck license while they were soldiers, learning to drive on a steering wheel, while in 1992 they also incurred public transport debts when under the Konstantinos Mitsotakis government the privatization of EAS was attempted with the result that bus strikers They pulled the handbrake. the vehicles in the depots, so the legendary army trucks were mobilized to transport the people.
The cycle of the French Mirage 2000 fighters is also closed
Finally, for its part, the Air Force will have retired the French Mirage 2000 fighter jets by the end of 2021 (in Greek the word means “optical illusion”). In the new agreement for the purchase of 18 latest generation Rafale fighters announced by the government (some of them will be new and others used), there is a proposal that provides for the sale of the oldest. Mirage 2000 EGM to the French, since they have completed 33 years of service in the Armed Forces of our country. We are referring only to the specific old type of aircraft that will be retired, as the newer Mirage 2000-5 will continue to fly normally on behalf of the Greek Air Force after the supply of the necessary spare parts.
The recalled Mirage 2000s are single-seat, single-engine, multi-role delta-wing, and all-weather fighters. They were added to our arsenal in 1988 with the “Talos” Contract, under which 40 pieces were purchased. In particular, between 1988 and 1992, 36 EGM Mirage 2000 and 4 two-seater BGM Mirage 2000 were delivered to the Air Force. It was the first fighter in our country to have an automatic electronic flight control system. Its electronics include two mainframe computers, an inertial navigation system, and a digital data transfer unit. It also has the ICMS 2000 integrated self-defense system that protects the aircraft from both air and ground threats, and has the ability to carry a wide variety of weapon systems. The Greek Mirage 2000 had the ability to be armed all these years with Super 530 / Matra Magic air-to-air missiles and was used primarily in interception missions.
Their base is still at the 114th Battle Wing in Tanagra and they belong to Squad 332 with the function of calling “Geraki”. The Greek Mirage 2000 has a bicolor variation of blue and gray, has a length of 14.36 meters, wing displacement of 9.13 meters, flies at a maximum altitude of 15,250 meters and can develop speeds of up to 2.2 Mach ( 2,530 kilometers per hour).
Of course, at the same time that all these weapons systems that closed their life cycle are being retired, Greece receives new supplies. We have already mentioned the fate of the 18 latest generation French fighter jets. Burst In addition, the renovation provides for the purchase of, among other things, four multifunction frigates and the modernization of existing heavy-duty torpedoes for submarines, anti-tank helicopters, multi-mission for the Navy and unmanned aerial vehicles for the United States Air Force.
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