1947–1996: from spotter aircraft to a sixth arm of the army

Greece’s army flew aircraft long before it had an aviation arm of its own: the army aviators of 1912 are part of the lineage of the Hellenic Air Force, which has its own page. The present Army Aviation was, in the words of English Wikipedia, originally established in 1947 with light artillery spotter and liaison aircraft — in the middle of the Civil War, although no account of its wartime flying was found for this page. Helicopters came later. Wikipedia dates the first transport helicopters to 1969, and Greek City Times, reporting the Black Hawk contract in 2024, gave the service entry of the types it will replace: the UH-1H from 1969, the single Agusta-Bell 212 from 1972 and the AB 205 from 1974. In 1996 Army Aviation was recognised as the sixth arm (όπλο) of the Hellenic Army, alongside the infantry, armour and artillery, and it is run by an Army Aviation Directorate inside the army general staff, an Army Aviation School and the 1st Army Aviation Brigade.

Apaches and Chinooks, and the crash off Mount Athos

The arm’s turn into a combat force came with the AH-64 Apache. Greece had received 20 AH-64As by 1995, and a further 12 AH-64Ds were ordered in September 2003, according to English Wikipedia’s Apache article. The Chinook fleet is a mix that only Greece flies in this form: the CH-47DG is an upgrade of the older CH-47C for Greece, and the Hellenic Army also uses the CH-47SD ‘Super D’ developed for Singapore. One of those SDs gave the arm its worst day. On 11 September 2004 a Hellenic Army CH-47SD crashed into the sea off Mount Athos, killing all 17 on board, among them four senior figures of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. The Apache fleet has had losses too: The Aviationist described the AH-64D that crashed in the Strymonian Gulf during exercise SARISA on 20 September 2016, with both crew escaping, as the third D-model lost out of the 12 bought.

The NH90 saga and the second-hand Kiowas

The NH90 shows the other side of Greek procurement. Greece ordered 20 NH90 transport helicopters, with an option on 14 more, in August 2003. In early 2013 the German newspaper Bild alleged that Airbus officials had paid €41 million in bribes to Greek officials to win the order; Airbus called the claim groundless. Deliveries dragged on: 12 aircraft were in service in early 2017 and 16 in December 2023, and Wikipedia records all 20 delivered only by October 2025, more than two decades after the order. Cheaper help came from the United States. Under the excess defence articles scheme Greece took 70 OH-58D Kiowa Warriors in early 2018, initially based at Stefanovikeio, and ten Chinooks; the US ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt called it a smart use of US surplus that would increase Greek capabilities “at a reasonable cost”. Wikipedia counts 60 Kiowas in service, with ten more kept for spare parts.

Stefanovikeio, the Americans and Storm Daniel

Stefanovikeio, on the Thessalian plain near Volos, is the arm’s main base and home of the 1st Army Aviation Brigade. Under the Greek-US Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement, signed in October 2019 and ratified by the Greek parliament by 175 votes to 33 on 31 January 2020, it became one of the Greek bases open to expanded US use, and US Army Apaches of the 1st Battalion, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade were there in November 2020. In September 2023 Storm Daniel flooded the base. Military sources quoted by Greek City Times said the helicopters had been moved and were safe, though water reached up to five metres in some hangars; the defence site Militaire.gr accused the government and general staff of silence and claimed Apaches had stood in water for 15 days. No official damage figure was found, so neither account is confirmed here.

2023–2026: Black Hawks, a Spike-armed Apache and a new hub at Sedes

From 2023 the fleet began to change faster. In April 2023 Greece agreed with Israel to upgrade its AH-64As, and Wikipedia records the first upgraded aircraft delivered in November 2025; Greek City Times reported in June 2026 that Elbit teams were working on 19 AH-64A+ helicopters at the Army Aviation base at Alexandreia, with nine to be armed with Rafael’s Spike NLOS missile by autumn 2026. Turkish defence media presented the upgrade as aimed at Turkey; Athens says its upgrades are defensive. The bigger change is the Black Hawk. The army chose 35 UH-60Ms in December 2023, at a US-estimated $1.95 billion with support; the letter of offer and acceptance was signed in April 2024, and Lockheed Martin’s $1.2 billion production contract for Greece and Sweden followed in October 2024. Sedes, outside Thessaloniki, is to be the Black Hawk hub, with deliveries from 2027 to about 2031.

What the record shows, and what it does not

Honesty about this arm means admitting how little of it is published. The Hellenic Army does not put fleet totals online in a form that could be reached for this page, so the counts here come from Wikipedia and the press, and they disagree: Greek City Times counted 24 CH-47Ds in October 2024 where Wikipedia lists 10 Chinooks in service, and figures for the Huey and AB 205 run from about two dozen to 60. The good news is real: a modern attack fleet, a heavy-lift force that flies fire and flood missions every summer, and a long-overdue utility helicopter on the way. The weak points are just as plain — a 50-year-old Huey fleet, an NH90 programme that took 22 years, two fatal accidents in 13 years (17 dead in 2004, four in 2017) and a main base that went under water in 2023.

Текущий флот и заказы

Агуста, Боинг, Белл, Бичкрафт, Бреда Нарди, Цессна, NHIndustries, Сикорский