List of equipment of the Hellenic Army

The heavy equipment and weaponry of the Hellenic Army is of mostly foreign manufacture, from German, French, American, British suppliers. A notable exception is the Leonidas armored fighting vehicle which is built in Greece by the Hellenic Vehicle Industry.

Equipment runs the gamut from state-of-the-art to obsolescent Cold War inventories; the latter are gradually being retired as no funds are available for upgrade. Russian made equipment was received or purchased after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and second hand US and German equipment was transferred or purchased.

Recent Defense spending cuts have had a big impact in operating costs (maintenance, technical support, operational training, transport and supplies). As 80% of the budget is spent on salaries and administrative costs the Greek Army faces the challenge of reorganizing its structure. This may lead to closing down some of the 500 military bases scattered across the country and reducing the size of the Army, transforming the Greek army into a smaller but largely professional force.

Under the Force Structure 2005-2020 plan large-scale changes in the Army will be implemented. Only two categories of units will exist: active and mobilized (reserve). No main weapon systems will be allocated to mobilized units.

Small Arms and Infantry Support Weapons

Firearms

Weapon Caliber Origin Notes
Pistols and Submachine Guns
Colt M1911A1 .45 ACP  United States Service Pistol.
HK P7 9mm Luger  Germany/ Greece Made under license by EAS [1]
Glock 17 9×19mm NATO  Austria Used by special forces and marines
HK MP5 9×19mm NATO  Germany/ Greece Made under license by EAS
Assault Rifles, Battle Rifles and Carbines
HK G3A3/G3A4 7.62×51mm NATO  Germany/ Greece Service Rifle. Made under license by Ellinika Amyntika Systimata (EAS) (English—"Hellenic Defense Systems"),[2] formerly under EBO ("Hellenic Arms Industry").[3]
M16A2 assault rifle 5.56×45mm NATO  United States Used by special forces / Navy / ISAF Forces in Afghanistan.
M4 carbine 5.56×45mm NATO  United States Used by special forces / Navy
FN FAL PARA 7.62×51mm NATO  Belgium Used by reserved forces
M14 7.62×51mm NATO  United States Used by Hellenic Navy
Sniper Rifles
Kefefs 7.62×51mm NATO  Greece Used by special forces, produced locally
Barrett M82A1M 12.7×99mm NATO  United States Used by special forces and marines
Barrett M95 12.7×99mm NATO  United States Used by special forces
Machine Guns
HK 11A1 7.62×51mm NATO  Germany/ Greece Magazine-fed light machine gun. Made under license by EAS
FN MINIMI 5.56×45mm NATO  Belgium/ Greece Light machine gun, replacing HK11. Made under license by EAS
FN MAG 7.62×51mm NATO  Belgium General-purpose machine gun
MG3 7.62×51mm NATO  Germany/ Greece General-purpose machine gun. Made under license by EAS
M60 7.62×51mm NATO  United States General-purpose machine gun
M2HB 12.7×99mm NATO  United States Heavy machine gun
Grenade Launchers
M203 40×46mm  United States Designed to be attached to a rifle
M79 40×46mm  United States Single-shot, shoulder-fired, break-action grenade launcher
HK GMG 40×53mm  Germany/ Greece Automatic grenade launcher. Made under license by EAS
MK19 Mod3 40×53mm
 United States Automatic grenade launcher in use by Special Forces

Infantry Support Weapons

Quantity Weapon Origin Notes
Anti-tank Guided Missile Launchers
196 9M133 Kornet E  Russia ATGM
366 all incorporated into M-901 ITV's BGM-71 TOW II  United States ATGM
290 MILAN  France/ West Germany ATGM, most MILAN I systems have been upgraded to MILAN II
262 9M111 Fagot  Soviet Union ATGM
Anti-tank Recoilless Rifles
1,988

Carl Gustaf M2 Recoilless Rifle

 Sweden 84 mm
1,291 M40 recoilless rifle  United States 106 mm / mounted on Jeeps
135 LRAC 89 mm STRIM  France 89 mm
Anti-tank Rocket launchers
18,706 RPG-18  Soviet Union 64 mm
10,841 M72A2 LAW  United States 66 mm
Heavy Mortars - 100 mm and above (CFE treaty caliber limit)
120 E56-E 120 mm Mortar  Greece 120 mm
Made by the Greek weapons manufacturer Ellinika Amyntika Systimata
624 M30  United States 107 mm
256 in use on the M106A1/A2 AMC
Medium and Light Mortars - below 100 mm (CFE treaty caliber limit)
690 E44-E 81 mm Mortar  Greece 81 mm
Made by the Greek weapons manufacturer Ellinika Amyntika Systimata
125 Hirtenberger M6C-210  Austria/ Greece 60 mm
Produced by the Greek weapons manufacturer Ellinika Amyntika Systimata under license from Hirtenberger of Austria.
1,616 M1  United States 81 mm
In storage

Land Vehicles and Heavy Armament

Main Battle Tanks

Quantity Type Origin Notes
CFE treaty limit: 1,735
170 Leopard 2A6 HEL  Germany/ Greece 120 mm gun. Delivered between 2006 and 2009. Built in Greece by ELBO under license of Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW).[4]
183 Leopard 2A4  Germany 120 mm gun
501 Leopard 1A5/GR  Germany 105 mm gun
390 M48A5 MOLF (Modular Laser Fire Control System)  United States 105 mm gun
70 M60A3 TTS  United States 105 mm gun. Many in reserve or in storage.


Armored Combat Vehicles/Carriers and Unarmored Vehicles

Quantity Weapon Origin Notes
CFE treaty limit: 2,498 [5]
Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles (AIFVs)
40 BMP-1P Ost  Soviet Union Bought from Germany, converted to ZU-23 carriers
491 Leonidas II  Greece \  Austria Made by the Greek vehicle manufacturer ELBO including 90 upgraded Leonidas 1
1,985 M 113A1/A2  United States Armored Personnel Carrier
3 M125A1 AMC  United States Armored mortar carrier, based on M113.
Equipped with the M29 (81 mm) mortar.
Armored Mortar Carriers - 100 mm and above (CFE treaty caliber limit)
257 M106A1/A2 AMC  United States Armored mortar carrier, based on M113.
Most vehicles are equipped with the M30 (107 mm) mortar but 120 will be equipped with the E-56 (120 mm) mortar.
Armored ATGM Carriers
362 M901/M901A1 ITV  United States Armored BGM-71 TOW carrier, based on M113
12 M113 TOW  United States M113 vehicle mounting a BGM-71 TOW launcher.
Armored Command Vehicles
249 M577A2  United States Armored command vehicle, based on M113
Armored Wheeled Vehicles
242 VBL  France Various Versions
695 HMMWV  United States/ Greece Various Versions - Some ex-US Army surplus. Others are new M1114GR made by ELBO under license.
Unarmored Wheeled Vehicle
8,300 Mercedes-Benz G-Class  Germany/ Greece Made under License by ELBO -Various Versions
148 KrAZ-255B  Ukraine Using as a transport vehicle and also can carry a PMP folding bridge
160 Oshkosh  United States 8x8 Truck
150 M35 2½ ton cargo truck  United States A2
120 MAN  Germany 6x6, 8x8 Truck
850 Steyr  Austria/ Greece Trucks made under License by ELBO (Type: Steyr 12M18)
110 Unimog  Germany Various Versions
? Tatra  Czech Republic

Artillery

CFE treaty limit: 1,920 (calibers > 100 mm) [6]
Quantity Weapon Origin Notes
Rocket Artillery
36 M270 MLRS  United States 12x227 mm
152x MGM-140A ATACMS Block 1 are also available.
116 RM70  Czechoslovakia 40x122 mm
Self-propelled Artillery
104 M110A2  United States 203 mm L40 to be phased out upon completion of the other programs
24+1 PzH 2000  Germany 155 mm L52.
12 M109A5  United States 155 mm L39
223 M109A3GEA2  United States 155 mm L39. 223 M109GEA2 with all the modernized systems including the AURORA system. Note that the AURORA PROGRAM includes many improvements over the M109A3/M109A5/A6 Paladin. It can also be linked to all the other artillery systems including the PzH-2000GR or act autonomously.
50 M109A3GEA1  United States 155 mm L39
82 M109A2  United States 155 mm L39
51 M109A1B  United States 155 mm L39
Towed Artillery
445 in storage M101  United States 105 mm L22
18 Mod-56 pack howitzer  Italy 105 mm L14
Counter-battery Radar / Observation
3 ARTHUR (military)  Norway/ Sweden Radar-system
10 AN/TPQ-36  United States Radar-system
8 AN/TPQ-37  United States Radar-system
10 Stendor Radar-system
? Decca D-110 Radar-system
40 BOR A-550 Radar-system
20 MARGOT XXL Camera-Observation-system

Air Defense Systems

Quantity Weapon Notes
Air Defense - Missile Systems
42 MIM-23B Improved HAWK - Phase III PIP 7 batteries x 6 missile launchers each
Medium range
21 TOR-M1
39 SA-8 Gecko
54 ASRAD-HELLAS With 426 FIM-92 Stinger Block 1 missiles.
VSHORADS
476 FIM-92B/C Stinger-POST & Stinger Block 1 MANPADS
Air Defense - Gun Systems
506 ZU-23-2 2x 23x152 mm (B)
285 Mk20 RH-202 2x 20x139 mm
Air Defense - Radar
3 Casta 2E1 Surveillance radar
5 P-19 radar Surveillance radar

Other Armored Vehicles

 
Medical Evacuation Vehicles
54 M 113A1 MEDEVAC
70+ Humvee Ambulance
? Mercedes-Benz G-Class Ambulance
Armored Vehicle-launched Bridges
8 Leopard-1 Leguan Armored Vehicle-launched Bridge based on Leopard-1 chassis.
10 Leopard-1 Biber Armored Vehicle-launched Bridge based on Leopard-1 chassis.
12 M60A1 AVLB Armored Vehicle-launched Bridge based on M60A1 chassis.
22 M48A5 AVLB Armored Vehicle-launched Bridge based on M48A5 chassis.
Armored Recovery Vehicles
12 Leopard II BUFALO HEL Armored Recovery Vehicle based on Leopard-2 chassis.
43 Leopard-1 ARV Armored Recovery Vehicle based on Leopard-1 chassis.
95 M88A1 Armored Recovery Vehicle of the Patton tanks family.
81 M578 Armored Recovery Vehicle The M578 utilized the same chassis as M107 self-propelled gun and M110 self-propelled howitzer.
Armored Demining Vehicles
50 Leopard-1V MP Armored Demining Vehicle based on Leopard-1 chassis. Gun was removed (in order to comply with CFE treaty limits on number of MBTs) and a Full Width Mine Plough (FWMP) from Pearson Engineering was added.

Aircraft

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service[7] Notes
Boeing AH-64 Apache  United States attack helicopter AH-64A+
AH-64DHA
19
10
Boeing CH-47 Chinook  United States transport helicopter CH-47DG/SD 15+10 Ten (10) ex-US Army CH-47D on order to be delivered in 2016;[8] option for five (5) more to a total of fifteen (15) Chinooks.
NHI NH90  Europe transport helicopter NH-90 TTH 11+9 Nine (9) remain on order; pending deliveries to be completed by the end of 2016 with the four (4) of them to be in SPEOPS configuration[9] for Special Forces usage.
Bell 205  United States
 Italy
utility helicopter UH-1H Iroquois
AB 205
26
62
Ex US Army
AB205 built by Agusta
Bell 206  Italy utility helicopter AB 206B-3 14 Built by Agusta
Bell 212  Italy VIP AB 212 VIP 1 Built by Agusta
Cessna 185  United States utility U-17A 14 To be decommissioned
C-12 Huron  United States VIP/photo recon aircraft C-12R 3
SAGEM Sperwer  France reconnaissance UAV 16 Light drones
Schweizer 300  United States training helicopter 300C 17

Historical equipment

References

  1. "EBO 9 mm EP7 pistol (Greece), PISTOLS". Jane's Information Group. 2001-04-25. Retrieved 2009-05-22.
  2. Hellenic Defense Systems
  3. "Personal infantry weapons: old weapons or new hardware in the coming decades? - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
  4. "Leopard 2 HEL images and info". Retrieved 2008-07-06.
  5. According to the CFE treaty, the Armored Combat Vehicles category includes Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs), Armored Infantry Fighting Vehicles (AIFVs), and Heavy Armament Combat Vehicles. Heavy Armament Combat Vehicles includes vehicles that were not MBTs, APCs or AIFVs but have an integral gun of at least 75 millimeter (mm) caliber and weight at least 6 tons.
  6. According to the CFE treaty, the Artillery category includes guns, howitzers, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, and artillery pieces that combine the characteristics of guns and howitzers.
  7. "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15, 2007.
  8. "Ειδήσεις από τις Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις #95". Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  9. "Η νέα Αεροπορία Στρατού". Retrieved 28 January 2016.
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