The Greek Military’s quest to modernize its mechanized infantry has been a narrative of delays and missed alternatives, relationship again to the early 2000s when the Kentauros Infantry Combating Automobile [IFV] challenge was deserted.
This bold program, meant to be spearheaded by the native protection producer ELVO, promised to offer Greece with a domestically produced, cutting-edge IFV. Its cancellation marked a major blow to the nation’s protection ambitions and left the mechanized forces reliant on growing older platforms that now not meet fashionable battlefield calls for.
By 2019, the state of the fleet was dire. Analysts at Protection Assessment highlighted the challenges, noting, “We’ve reached some extent the place Greece’s armored automobiles face severe growing older and operational depreciation points.
Many years of failures, gaps, and missed alternatives have left our mechanized and armored forces and not using a fashionable, agile automobile able to delivering substantial firepower.” This grim evaluation got here simply as Greece acquired 40 Marder IFVs from Germany, an trade for sending its legacy BMP-1s to Ukraine.
Whereas the Marder acquisition introduced incremental enhancements, it was removed from the great resolution required to modernize the fleet.
In 2020, Greece made an enchantment to america, requesting 350 surplus M2A2 and M2A2 ODS Bradley automobiles. Nonetheless, progress on this entrance was sluggish. After three years of bureaucratic inertia, the U.S. lastly permitted the switch of 300 Bradleys in March 2023.
The supply included 62 items offered freed from cost beneath the Extra Protection Articles [EDA] program and a further 102 items out there for buy from BAE Programs Land & Armaments.
Regardless of the enchantment of buying confirmed IFVs, the Greek Basic Employees finally declined the deal, citing prohibitive refurbishment prices that might pressure the navy’s already restricted funds.
Because the Bradley deal faltered, Greece explored different choices. In October 2023, the Military expressed curiosity in a proposal from KNDS of France. This proposal included the instant supply of 120 VBCIs, with a possible co-production settlement to provide a further 250 items regionally beneath the “Philoctetes” program.
Concurrently, Germany’s Rheinmetall entered the fray, selling its KF-41 Lynx IFV as a state-of-the-art resolution. Each European affords carried important value tags, main the Basic Employees to rethink its priorities.
Finally, neither the French VBCI nor the German Lynx secured a contract. As a substitute, Greece leaned towards an economical modernization program for its current fleet of M113 armored personnel carriers. Israeli protection agency Rafael, in partnership with Greek firm METKA, proposed a complete improve bundle for at the least 500 M113s.
This plan included equipping the automobiles with remote-controlled turrets armed with 30mm autocannons, bolstered armor to reinforce survivability, new powertrains to spice up mobility, superior communication methods for networked operations, and state-of-the-art optical sensors to enhance battlefield consciousness. The modernization work can be carried out at METKA’s facility in Magnesia, with an estimated value of beneath €8 million per automobile.
Whereas these upgrades promise to considerably improve the M113’s capabilities, the platform’s inherent limitations stay. With a weight of simply 12 tons, the M113 is essentially a troop transport and can’t match the firepower, safety, or versatility of recent IFVs just like the Bradley or VBCI, which weigh almost twice as a lot.
Nonetheless, this strategy displays a practical resolution to Greece’s constrained protection funds, extending the utility of a confirmed platform whereas deferring the acquisition of recent automobiles.
The choice to deal with upgrading the M113 underscores Greece’s broader protection technique—one which balances operational wants with fiscal realities. Although not a game-changer, this modernization effort seeks to make sure that Greece’s mechanized forces stay related, whilst bigger and extra superior platforms stay out of attain.
The M113 has been a spine of Greece’s mechanized forces for many years, serving in numerous capacities as a flexible, albeit growing older, armored personnel service [APC].
Acquired primarily by way of surplus protection gear applications from america and NATO allies, Greece’s M113 fleet consists of quite a few variants that mirror many years of gradual upgrades and variations to evolving operational wants.
The usual M113A1 and M113A2 fashions kind the core of the fleet. These automobiles, initially outfitted with the Basic Motors 6V53 diesel engine, present fundamental troop transport capabilities with a deal with mobility and ease.
They’re armed with a .50-caliber M2 Browning heavy machine gun mounted on a rotating cupola, providing fundamental defensive firepower. Regardless of their historic reliability, these fashions lack fashionable armor and firepower, which limits their effectiveness on up to date battlefields.
Through the years, Greece has acquired a number of specialised variants of the M113. Among the many most notable is the M106 mortar service, outfitted with both an 81mm or 120mm mortar for oblique fireplace assist.
These automobiles enable Greek infantry to ship speedy and cellular firepower, significantly in mountainous and hard-to-reach areas the place conventional artillery items face deployment challenges.
Equally, the M577 command submit variant has confirmed indispensable for battlefield coordination, that includes expanded interiors, extra communications gear, and auxiliary energy items to assist prolonged operations.
Along with these conventional roles, Greece’s M113s have been tailored for particular mission necessities. The M163 Vulcan Air Protection System, a variant of the M113, offers close-range anti-aircraft capabilities.
Armed with a 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, this platform affords a level of safety in opposition to low-flying plane and helicopters, although its utility in fashionable air protection is restricted by the proliferation of drones and superior aerial threats.
Regardless of their ubiquity, the M113s in Greek service have been more and more challenged by age and obsolescence. Armor safety stays minimal, with the automobiles susceptible to something past small arms fireplace.
The powertrains, whereas rugged, have turn out to be a legal responsibility on account of inefficiency and frequent upkeep necessities. Furthermore, the dearth of superior optics and fashionable communications methods additional diminishes their utility in an period dominated by networked and precision-capable navy platforms.
This operational shortfall has prompted Greece to think about in depth upgrades to increase the fleet’s relevance. The latest proposal by Israel’s Rafael Superior Protection Programs, in collaboration with Greece’s METKA, seeks to modernize over 500 M113s.
This bold plan contains outfitting the APCs with remote-controlled weapon stations armed with 30mm autocannons, which might drastically enhance firepower.
Further upgrades embody bolstered armor plating to offer higher safety in opposition to explosive threats, new powertrains for improved mobility and effectivity, superior communications methods for enhanced battlefield integration, and state-of-the-art optical sensors to enhance situational consciousness and concentrating on.
The modernization effort additionally incorporates a level of native industrial participation, with a lot of the improve work slated to happen at METKA’s facility in Magnesia. This not solely reduces prices but in addition aligns with Greece’s broader technique of revitalizing its home protection trade. Every upgraded automobile is estimated to value beneath €8 million, making it an economical various to buying completely new platforms.
Whereas these enhancements promise to increase the M113’s operational life, it stays an APC at its core. The automobile’s 12-ton weight and modest safety ranges place it firmly within the class of troop transport moderately than a real infantry combating automobile [IFV] just like the Bradley or VBCI.
Nonetheless, the upgrades signify a practical resolution to Greece’s budgetary constraints, permitting the nation to keep up a reputable mechanized functionality whereas deferring the acquisition of extra superior platforms.
In abstract, Greece’s M113 fleet illustrates the challenges and alternatives of modernizing legacy methods. Whereas the automobiles’ limitations are clear, the proposed upgrades purpose to maximise their utility in particular roles, guaranteeing that Greece’s mechanized forces can stay operationally related in a quickly altering safety surroundings.
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