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its own continental shelf, responded by sending
its own warships to the area.

Flourishing Partnership
Signs that the two countries are interested in [ REPORT ]
building up a longstanding strategic partnership
came even before the mega deal for the flight
training academy. In May last year, the Hellenic
Ministry of National Defense announced that it
would lease Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI)
Heron UAVs for border defense. The Maritime
Heron UAVs perform constant reconnaissance
both day and night and can contain patrol radar
systems and satellite communications Greece
would have the option of buying the drones,
which are in its maritime configuration, after
the three-year lease period. The deployment
of the drone follows Turkey using drones in the
Evros region and Aegean Sea that borders the
Addressing a Pressing Problem two countries.
The proposed training center, which comes at a time when Greece
is working on bolstering its military with new weapons and devel- The Heron UAV comes in several models,
oping its local defense industry in response to tensions with Turkey, including the smaller tactical Heron that was
assumes critical importance in view of the fact that militaries the introduced in the market in 2019, and the longer
world over have been dealing with a shortage of military pilots, endurance Heron MK II that was launched in
both for combat and transport aircraft. The United States Air 2020. Besides the Israeli Air Force, Turkey,
Force, for instance, currently needs 2,100 more pilots to execute India, Australia, Singapore, Azerbaijan, and
the National Defense Strategy and is developing a program to let Germany are also using the military drone.
civilian pilots fly aircraft for the service after exempting them from The Heron MK II has a wingspan of 16 meters,
certain aspects of military training. The pandemic and its impact on weighs 1,300 kg, has a maximum endurance of
the commercial airline industry have helped air forces retain pilots, 45 hours, and can reach an altitude of 35,000
but the expected shortage of pilots globally - a study in March feet.
2021 by global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman predicts
a shortfall of about 60,000 by 2029 - is expected to hurt militaries. Industry Impact
According to industry watchers, the strength-
The center in Greece, a country that spends more on defense than ening of military ties between Israel and Greece
any other European Union country relative to the size of its econ- is likely to have a positive impact on the Greek
omy, is expected to take about four years to be fully operational. defence industry, which has been struggling,
The contract is a major win for Israeli defence contractor Elbit mainly due to financial constraints and tech-
Systems, a company that has been making significant headway into nological limitations, to keep up with the pace
what is a very competitive market. Apart from being in charge of of progress of its neighbors. In December
Israel Air Force training and bagging the new contract, the company last year, an Israeli-led consortium involving
also operates the flight training center for the Royal Air Force in SK Group and Plasan Sasa acquired major-
the United Kingdom through its British partner, the KBR company. ity shares in Greece’s state-controlled military

The contract comes in the backdrop of Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets
taking part in a joint air drill with the Hellenic Air Force in Greece.
The exercise included reserve pilots who are Elbit employees. The
joint exercises and the contract, which signal the organic growth of
a healthy relationship between the two neighbors, are also intended
to send a message to Turkey, which has been adding new weapons
and flexing its military muscle to keep Greece worried. The two
countries, it may be recalled, have come dangerously close to
war three times since the mid-1970s, including once over explora-
tion rights in the Aegean Sea. The current tensions erupted after
Turkey sent seismic research vessel, the Oruc Reis, and warships,
to prospect for oil and gas reserves in an area between Cyprus
and the Greek island of Crete. Greece, which claims the area as

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