The high-ranking Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) on Tuesday finalized Greece’s procurement of F-35s and S-100 unmanned helicopters, during a meeting chaired by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, according to government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis.
The F-35s warplanes and S-100 UAVs are considered an important addition to Greece’s arsenal, being, among others, inter-operable with three French-made FDI frigates the country has ordered.
Other defense programs were approved as well, according Marinakis.
The meeting also included briefings over foreign policy and defense issues, illegal migration flows, the management of seasonal wildfires, and touched on the priorities of Greece’s newly established cybersecurity authority.
About the F-35s and S-100s
The US-made fifth-generation F-35s are fighter jets that feature state-of-the-art technology with an emphasis on stealth qualities to make them less detectable by radar. They reach speeds of 1.6Mach (1,960 km per hour) and can also carry air-to-ground guided bombs in internal weapons bays for strategic bombing runs.
The S-100 unmanned helicopters are made by the Austrian company Schiebel and will be fielded on the Greek FDI frigates.
The UAVs are considered suitable for military and civilian uses, and can operate day and night even under adverse weather conditions.
Their range is up to 200 kilometers over land and sea and they are able to transmit high-definition images in real-time to a control station.
The biggest customer of the S-100 is the United States, whereas 40 countries have chosen purchased this aircraft, mainly for military use, according to TO VIMA.
The S-100 platform is also useful for monitoring pollutants, transport networks, firefighting and conducting aerial mapping.
