It is not ruled out that Greece will also modernize its older Leopard 1 tanks. Greece has a total of about 500 such tanks in 1A5/GR/V versions. They are significantly behind the requirements of modern warfare, especially in terms of firepower and armor. It has been speculated that 190 tanks could receive new fire control systems. Perhaps upgrades will be carried out jointly with the Belgian company John Cockerill, which has expressed its readiness to participate in this project and offered a new gun turret. It is estimated that a modernization of the 2A4 and 1A5 tanks would cost approximately €1.3 billion, without the Trophy system for the former and without new turrets for the latter. There have also been media reports that KMW (Krauss-Maffei Wegmann) is considering increasing its presence in Greece (the Athens-based METKA company is already involved in the production of the Leopard tanks – the hull and turret structures are produced in Greece). According to “Die Welt”, Greece could be involved in “additional co-production or modernization of hundreds of older Leopard tanks”. The German company acknowledged that talks have been initiated, but at the same time it ruled out any transfer of production from Germany to Greece, let alone the creation of new plants. The artillery sector Despite having a relatively large artillery force, including approximately 420 M109 self-propelled howitzers and 25 KMW PzH2000GRs, Greece recognizes a need to strengthen this component of its army. Experts advocate for both an increase in the number of PzH2000s and the acquisition of new ammunition. Artillery is an extremely important tool – in the event of a Turkish invasion of the Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea - and it would play a major role both in defensive operations (supporting Greek forces) and in offensive operations (attacking Turkish positions behind front lines). Greece is planning to modernize its RM-70 wheeled (8x8) rocket launchers, which are based on the chassis of the Tatra T-815-7 truck. Greece has entered a phase of rapid modernization of its military. Although the Air Force and the Navy are a priority for Athens, investments also include ground forces. Although it might seem that Greece is located in a safe part of Europe, the risk of armed conflict – not necessarily full-scale, but of limited intensity – cannot be ruled out. The ongoing territorial dispute with Turkey is a source of this risk, which has escalated in recent years. In addition to mutual shows of force and provocations, Turkey has also been accused of using streams of migrants who have repeatedly tried to illegally cross the Greek border. The recent turmoil regarding divided Cyprus does not contribute to building stability and peace either. Greece has about 6,000 islands and a coastline of about 13,676 kilometers, making it one of the European countries with the longest coastline. For this reason, the Navy plays a particularly important role, as the Air Forces does. The Greek government also recognizes an important role to the Hellenic Army (Ellinikós Stratós), which would also be involved in a direct clash with Turkey. Greek tank programmes Greece is preparing for a large-scale modernization of its tanks. This is an important move for Greece, as its armored forces, which have M48A5 (up to 392 tanks) in reserve and still use M60A3s (more than 300), are largely outdated (the most advanced type is KMW/Rheinmetall Leopard 2A6HEL, of which Greece has 170 – the last ones delivered in 2009). In February 2023, Defence Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos announced that Greece plans to modernize the majority of its Leopard 2A4 tanks. Athens wants to upgrade a total of 123 tanks to the 2A7 variant (in total Greece has 183 2A4s in stock). 14 of the unmodernized vehicles will still be used for training. Consideration is being given to equipping the tanks with Rafael‘s Trophy APS for an additional cost of around €600 million for the whole fleet. A research associate in the Department of Foreign Policy and Security Theory at the University of Lódz, Robert Czulda is an expert in international security and defence issues, who has become a regular contributor to MilTech. Robert Czulda The modernization efforts of the Hellenic Army Nations in Focus: Greece MT 2/2023 · 37 A Greek Leopard 1A5 crossing a bridge. The German tank continues to serve as the backbone of armoured forces. (All pictures by Greek Army/Army Staff)
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