On Monday 12 December 2022, the Minister of National Defence Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos attended the inauguration of the Operational Synthetic Training Squadron of the Air Tactics Training Centre, at the 117 Combat Wing, in Andravida.
Chief/HNDGS General Konstantinos Floros and Chief/HAFGS Lieutenant General Themistoklis Bourolias, representatives of the Regional Self-Administration, the mayors of Andravida-Kyllini Mr. Ioannis Lentzas and of Pineios Mr. Andreas Marinos, as well as local officials, also attended the event.
During his address, the Minister of National Defence pointed out the following:
“Ladies and gentlemen,
I am looking forward to seeing what was exactly created here, thanks to the great effort of the team that created it. So, “Look at the future” and I supplement: “Build the future and do it fast, do not waste any time, because the future is here”. What is the future for the Hellenic Air Force, besides the general picture of the geopolitical turbulences and an environment with increasing complexity and risk of the threats and challenges?
The future is surely the fifth generation aircraft, the network centred capabilities (that is the processing of a greater volume of multi-complex, multi-levelled information, mostly by the user-the aircraft operator); therefore, the new digital era.
It is the jointness, namely -in virtue of this ease in processing more information- the need for cooperation with means of other services, so as to achieve the same goal in the context of the same mission.
The Base that is established and the new means, the new capabilities that will train the next generation of the Air Force operators: this is the new era in air training, approximately 100 kilometres south of Andravida. This is the future we are called to handle.
I want to congratulate all those who worked using all their creativity, their cleverness, their resourcefulness, and their professionalism to add these additional capabilities, through the establishment of the Positive Training Squadron and the simulators. Not only because they showed, I would say, all the talent, all the virtues of the Air Force members, not only because they created capabilities from the Air Force and for the Air Force, not only because they responded to the challenges of this new era, but because they did it with their own means, basically saving money, which will naturally be redistributed to the needs of the Air Force and the Armed Forces.
This initiative alone, for these reasons, is praiseworthy, but above all, it shows that the Air Force and by extension the Armed Forces can enhance their capabilities through their own capabilities.
So, this proves -to me personally and I am certain that I also speak for the Military Leadership, the Chief/HNDGS, the Chief/HAFGS, all who partake in taking decisions for the Armed Forces at the Ministry of National Defence- that it is absolutely worthy to do whatever we can to help the Armed Forces to better do their job.
This has been all along my “mission statement”, and by that I mean my statement regarding my role, my statesmanship, my mission here, at the Ministry of National Defence.
Congratulations to all, keep up this way, keep up with the same ardour, the same professionalism, the same creativity, cleverness, adjustability, you name it, keep working to continuously enhance the capabilities of the Air Force. We, as Political Leadership, as Military Leadership, will feel both proud for you and further obliged to work from our side to help you. I repeat, to help you do your job as good as possible, obviously to the benefit of the Country. Be well, may the Archangel always be at your wings. Since “God helps those who help themselves”, it is wise besides the Archangel, you yourselves to contribute with your own capabilities to the enhancement of the Air Force capabilities.
Congratulations”.
After the Squadron inauguration ceremony, Mr. Panagiotopoulos answered to questions of the Press:
GIORGOS SIDERIS: Minister, today we are here, at the “seedbed” of the future combatants of the Aegean, who defend the Greek sky every day. What can this project mean for the deterrence of every day’s challenges?
NIKOLAOS PANAGIOTOPOULOS: This project is very important! Today is another important day for the Air Force, among many we have recently experienced.
We inaugurated here with Chief/HNDGS and Chief/HAFGS, the Operational Synthetic Training Squadron at the Air Tactics Training Centre, in Andravida, where I just had the opportunity, or the experience if I may, to observe the new Cadets been trained in this centre’s simulators.
The simulators that have been created with the provision and capabilities of the Air Force. That is, all this is constructed by members of the Air Force for the members of the Air Force, the operators of Air Force assets, and this alone makes the achievement especially important. Not to mention cost saving, scale economies, the Air Force’s potential to expand its capabilities, that is proved once more, in a very complex circumstance with challenges intensified in terms of complexity, and even of risk. Both the Air Force and the Armed Forces, with their own assets, enhance their total deterrent capability.
So, here are trained the new pilots, who will possibly staff the new assets and the existing ones of the Air Force as well, in cooperation with elements of the other Services of the Armed Forces, of the Army in this case. It is the jointness we talk about a lot, but the personnel prove it in practice.
So, new era, new assets, new training centre, new concepts, like the network centred capabilities, the capability of the operator to process a huge volume of information in his platform -his aircraft-, the capability of increasing jointness, that is the cooperation on the basis of this volume of information with elements of the other Services of the Armed Forces.
In the new era, once more, the Hellenic Armed Forces and practically the Air Force are “present” and prove that they can deal with any challenge that arises.
Of course we owe congratulations to all who contributed to the establishment of this Centre. I would say that the only thing they had to do was to implement their creativity, their resourcefulness, with the professionalism, the talent and the quality they possess and create something with almost zero resources, zero finances, from the Air Force for the Air Force.
We are really proud and a little safer when we see these efforts.
GIORGOS SIDERIS: Minister, allow me something more. As we are approaching Christmas holidays, we usually see that tension between the two countries, Greece and Turkey, drops. Nevertheless, yesterday we saw and heard the President of Turkey speak of hurricanes, of strikes against Athens if we do not behave, etc. What is your view on this?
NIKOLAOS PANAGIOTOPOULOS: I have said a lot of times that we are not expecting Turkey to stop using this aggressive rhetoric, this hostile rhetoric against our country.
I think the pre-election climate in the neighbouring country plays its role, but certainly it is not the only reason for this exacerbation in rhetoric. Obviously we do not choose to use the same tone, although we are at a pre-election climate as well, and we could use hostile rhetoric against the neighbouring country to attract votes, each one for his Party. We do not do it though, because we choose to be composed and do our job.
Our job is to strengthen our country. Maybe this strengthening of the Armed Forces’ overall is what makes our neighbours more irritated.
I have said it before and I will say it again: the fact is that Greece will be stronger, the Armed Forces will be stronger, so, let’s be prepared to see this irritation demonstrating in various forms. This does not stop us, the Political and Military Leadership of the Ministry, from doing our job, in excellent cooperation. Our job is nothing more than to offer the means and capabilities to the Armed Forces to do their job the best way possible.
LEONIDAS BLAVERIS: Minister, as you spoke of the International Air Training Centre at the 120 Air Training Wing of Kalamata, is there anything new about the delivery of new generation training aircraft?
NIKOLAOS PANAGIOTOPOULOS: The process is ongoing, the first training aircraft will probably arrive in the spring; it is a 5th generation training aircraft, so that the training for 5th generation aircraft, to be flown in the future by the AF Cadets, matches the respective 5th generation training aircraft. The ones we had so far and whose life cycle ends at the end of the year, were not 5th generation.
