Hellenic Air Force

France looks forward to further strengthening its already close relations with Greece, Florence Parly told Kathimerini in an interview shortly after the signing of the agreement for the purchase of 18 Rafale fighters by Greece in Athens.

Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos and French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly signed a contract today for Athens' purchase of 18 Rafale fighter jets.

The addition of the French war planes to the Greek Air Force fleet has been touted as giving the Greek Air Force a strategic boost in its deterrent force at a time of heightened tensions with Turkey.

Greece's Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) extended on Thursday the terms of Lieutenant General Georgios Blioumis, chief of the Hellenic Air Force, and Michalis Karamalakis, the head of Greek Police (ELAS). 

Blioumis was first appointed to the post on January 2019 and Karamalakis on July 2019.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Greece and Israel have reached an agreement, after five months of negotiations, for the transformation of Kalamata Airport in southern Greece into a flight training center.

The agreement was presented on Monday to the relevant parliamentary committee by Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos.

Naval units from Greece and the United Arab Emirates are seen taking part in a joint three-day military exercise in the Eastern Mediterranean which wrapped up on Tuesday. The drill, which involved one UAE corvette, two Greek frigates and Hellenic Air Force aircraft, focused on communications, anti-aircraft warfare and fast-roping from helicopters.

North Macedonia's NATO air policing program is reportedly being discussed by Skopje and Sofia as part of the bid to find common ground that will resolve a conflict between the two neighboring countries that has led Bulgaria to raise obstacles to North Macedonia's European Union accession.

Images were released on Saturday of last week's Hellenic Navy exercise that took place from Tuesday to Friday in the wider sea area of the central and northern Aegean. Frigates, surveillance ships, submarines, helicopters of the navy's aviation force and Hellenic Air Force planes took part in the four-day drill.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, Movement for Change leader Fofi Gennimata and Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas (l to r) on Wednesday attended a brief ceremony to mark Greece's Independence Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Parliament.

Hellenic Air Force fighter jets and helicopters flew over the capital at 10.30 a.m. on Tuesday as a practice run ahead of the March 25 national holiday, the Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA) said.

A Mirage-3000 and an F-16 jet flew twice over Athens, according to GEETHA.

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas confirmed on Tuesday that Greece will be providing Saudi Arabia with Patriot anti-aircraft missiles, as reported by Kathimerini last month.