TSAMTO, May 18. Elbit Systems has announced the acceptance by Greece of the first two M-346 training aircraft, which will be used to train pilots of modern fighters.
The official ceremony took place on May 17 at the International Flight Training Center, established on the basis of the 120th Training Wing of the Greek Air Force (a /b Kalamata), in the presence of representatives of the governments and Ministries of Defense of Greece and Israel.
The event, in particular, was attended by Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos, Chief of the General Staff of the Greek Armed Forces General Konstantinos Floros, Head of the Department of International Defense Cooperation (SIBAT) of the Israeli Defense Ministry Brigadier General (retired) Yair Kulas, Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Major General Tomer Bar and others. The planes arrived in Greece on May 11.
The two M-346s are the first of 10 aircraft to be delivered in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement concluded in 2021 between the Ministries of Defense of Greece and Israel. The document provides for the assignment of the responsibility of creating an International Flight Training Center at the Kalamata Airbase to Elbit Systems. Leonardo Group aircraft are equipped with an integrated avionics suite developed by Elbit Systems, which provides simulation of various flight scenarios and air combat to ensure a high level of pilot training. It is expected that the flight time of the M-346 will be several thousand hours per year.
The purpose of the creation of the International Flight Training Center is to provide basic, advanced and combat flight training for pilots for 22 years on T-6 and M-346 aircraft. The project should bring income to the Greek Air Force and international prestige to the training center.
As reported by TSAMTO, in January 2021, Elbit Systems announced that, based on the results of a competitive evaluation and within the framework of an agreement between the Ministry of Defense of Israel and the Ministry of National Defense of Greece, it was selected as a contractor for the creation and operation of the International Flight Training Center of the Greek Air Force. The agreement provides for the supply of the M-346 Lavi TCB with a set of Israeli-made avionics and related equipment for training.
In April 2021, in Athens, Theodoros Lagios, Director General for Defense Investments and Armaments of the Greek Armed Forces, and Yair Kulas, Head of the Department for International Defense Cooperation (SIBAT) of the Israeli Defense Ministry, signed an intergovernmental agreement on the establishment of an International Flight Training Center based on the 120th Training Wing (a/b Kalamata) Greek Air Force.
As part of the agreement, the Israeli Defense Ministry and Elbit Systems will participate in the creation of an international center, which will be modeled after the Israeli Air Force Academy. The Center will receive 10 M-346 training aircraft of the Italian Leonardo group. The cost of the intergovernmental agreement is about 5.4 billion. shekels ($1.65 billion). The duration of the project will be 22 years.
As part of the agreement, Elbit Systems must also supply modernization kits for the T-6 Texan-2 training aircraft in service with the Greek Air Force, provide training services, simulators and logistical support.
