Hellenic Navy

Three Hellenic Navy ships will open to the public over four days as part of the celebrations for the Greek Independence Day on March 25.

It is necessary to promote a rapprochement between Greece and Turkey but "no illusions" are allowed, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday, as the Hellenic Navy welcomed three new US-made Romeo MH-60R Seahawk helicopters in its assets.

Greece's frigate Hydra opened fire on two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the Gulf of Aden during the early hours of Wednesday, utilizing its 127mm main gun. Both UAVs promptly altered their course.

Greece has formally agreed to participate in and lead a European Union maritime security operation in the Red Sea to protect commercial shipping from attacks by Houthi militants in Yemen.

The Hydra frigate of the Hellenic Navy set sail on Monday night from Salamina to the Naval Station of Crete in Souda from where it will head to the Red Sea, in the framework of the Aspides (Shield) operation of the European Union to protect safe navigation to and from the Suez Canal.

A Hellenic Navy ship rescued 72 migrants whose wooden boat was adrift 40 nautical miles off the south coast of Crete on Saturday.

The migrants requested assistance from passing merchant ships, which informed the Greek authorities. They were to be taken to Iraklio where they were to undergo medical tests before being registered.

Greece will be receiving the first three of seven MH-60R Seahawk helicopters this year aboard US Navy transport planes, after Sikorsky, a subsidiary of US weapons maker Lockheed Martin, completed the flight tests, the company announced on Wednesday.

The remaining four aircraft will be delivered in 2025 to complete the Hellenic Navy's purchase, it added. 

Only a few days have passed since the letter of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis informing him of the Department of State's approval of the sale of advanced F-35 multi-mission aircraft and other weapons systems and an intense, and not always cool-headed, debate has erupted about a series of large arms procurement programs.

Greece is in talks with the US to co-produce US-designed Constellation-class frigates, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said on Monday.
 
"We are discussing with the US the joint design and co-production of the new generation of Constellation frigates," Dendias said after a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas in Athens.
 

The package to assist Greece with military systems from the US Armed Forces' arsenal is expected to be officially announced on Saturday morning in Athens in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.