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He served in the Air Force for twenty years and before his recent retirement, he was a fighter pilot with more than 2,000 hours of flying time in fighter jets. Prior to demobilization, he was in the front-line squadrons such as Squadron 330, while for the past ten years he served in F-16 Block 52+ Advanced aircraft at Araxos Air Base and in the 335th Squadron. He had the rare opportunity to fly with the French Air Force’s leading air force, the Dassault Rafale, as well as to work with pilots of this aircraft. For a year and a half he has been working in the United Arab Emirates, specifically in Abu Dhabi, as a flight instructor.
Stefanos Karavidas, retired Flying (I), analyzes the capabilities of Rafale, the fighter that our country acquires, while describing in the APE-MPE radio station “Agencia 104.9 FM” the special conditions in which the Greek pilots. Professionals who, as he characterizes, are “the people who have to live their life with the philosophy of a cosmopolitan”.
The Rafale era
The Greek pilot analyzes, through his experience, the operational data of the aircraft. He points out that such a purchase will give the Greek Special Forces a new opportunity.
“I flew in the back seat of such a French fighter. I must emphasize that the experts on this particular fighter plane are only the users. In this context, this aircraft, a fourth-generation fighter, can achieve multiple capabilities in both air and air combat. air as air-to-ground compared to third generation fighters such as the F-16 ”, explains the Greek pilot, focusing on the value of some specific weapons systems that Rafale can bring to the Aegean.
A fighter technology that changes the data series in the air battle in the Aegean is, as he says, Link interconnection systems (that is, systems of secure digital connection with other aircraft for the exchange of data in real conditions). “In the context of network-centric operations, Rafale will not only be able to maintain a balance – the balance exists even now, while in the special characteristics of the Aegean we, like Greece, have qualitative and quantitative superiority – to overturn it in favor of Greece. “, he says.
New weapons and tactics
“With regard to the air threat, the aircraft has a ‘longer arm’ thanks to the missile called Meteor”, he points out, and explains: “The reason is that with this weapon system, a fighter of this type that will be, it will involve enemy aircraft without the threat of these aircraft being essential to the Rafale of Greece ”.
At the same time, he notes that a Meteor rocket is, according to what is known, three to four times faster in terms of the speed at which it aims at the target, while it can do so, compared to the missiles that currently exist in the Aegean. in the PA of Greece and Turkey – to give an additional radius of action close to 50 kilometers, almost 25 nautical miles, something that is of great importance. It can also “be launched from an aircraft and support the guidance of the aircraft by another aircraft further back and safely.”
In Greece’s anti-aircraft network, using Link systems in the context of network-based operations (with the possibility that data can be “shared” by many Greek ED systems), Karavidas explains that the fleet of new fighters will be able to ” not just keeping the balance “but” upsetting it in favor of Greece. ” It is also very important that this aircraft is interoperable since “it has an excellent electronic scanning radar, an excellent Electronic Warfare (IC) that ensures the operation of its own radar but also takes care of ‘blinding’ enemy radars”.
The Greek air force and the “culture of victory”
However, according to Karavidas, the most important factor in the work of the Greek Palestinian Authority is the man: “Every pilot of the Greek Palestinian Authority is flattered that he is honored to be assigned the task of defending the Aegean and the sovereign rights of the country, “he adds. the pilot and is quick to emphasize for the executives of the Greece ED a main message: “There is a culture of victory. Young children 27 and older are involved in interceptions and engagements as training leaders, not just pilots. “Therefore, these people must function as cosmopolitan monks and have a maturity that does not correspond to their real biological age.”
Greece’s aviation control system, as the pilot emphasizes, is such that “any great aviation would be jealous of the times and Greece’s reactions” in the field: “Greeks can sleep easy, be proud, it is not a work, it is not a profession, it is a passion and a cult. El Griego Volador, as well as in general the executives of the ED, regardless of rank, are professionals and there is the moral and the mind for victory “, he points out.
“Routine flights” and scrabble
What remains after 20 years in the skies of Greece? “Routine flights don’t really exist, this is an uncontrollable term. Beyond that, the most important reason why ‘the plane is dangerous’ is because … we have to go to the airport with our car. In the profession In aviation, there are very strict procedures, as well as evaluation. There is a careful effort and in fact risk and risk are reduced to the maximum, “explained Mr. Karavidas and stressed that for Flying the mission is important:” We must live with a memory of fear and a productive fear, so that we are safe. “and the execution of the mission is safe,” he says.
The pilot with the 2000 flight hours leads us to a “scrabble”: “It is the process of taking off quickly. While we are in the preparation room, the red phone rings and you have to be inside the aircraft in two minutes, to have completed the procedures correctly, but also to take off with the correct procedure so that your weapons system is ready and you get involved immediately. From an advanced airport, times are too short. In essence, after taking off, you are forced to get directly involved. So, in addition to controlling your own aircraft, you must have control of the Formation, to maintain your training in good psychology, to be able to understand, to psychologize your Number 2 and beyond to help him compose and image and intercept or involvement, if it evolves to something like this, be positive for us … Faced with days of tension and emotions, he says that “there are many emotions, many individual moments, many stories with dear colleagues, and in action but also in retirement,” he says. Mr. Karavidas who does not stop talking for a moment about the ties between the pilots.
A “second” Air Force
“It is typical that in countries that have a culture of safety, like Israel and even Europeans like Belgium, they do not allow operational combat pilots whose training can cost up to 10 million dollars in a period of 15 years to go to this investment. . lost. Thus, even as citizens they retain the status of hoplite citizen. They maintain their skills normally and in fact – as far as the Israelis are concerned – they participate in operational missions, ”says the pilot trainer who believes that something similar is possible in Greece.
There is what we call a “second PA outside the PA.” We are a great family and always – no matter where we are – we will always be permanent, uniformed, present, Flying, soldiers, at the service of the Homeland and we are happy to declare ourselves present, if necessary and the service invites us to return with joy. . »
Source: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
