The Hellenic Navy has taken delivery of the first of 11 S-70B helicopters refurbished by Lockheed Martin in cooperation with Greek company Aeroservices.
The May 6 handover ceremony at the Aeroservices, Megara Civil Airport, was attended by US ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt and high ranking Hellenic armed forces officials.
Pyatt noted that Greece’s participation in the foreign military sales program allowed Aeroservices to become the first fully certified, advanced-level repair capability for Sikorsky helicopters in Europe.
“The work being done here at Aeroservices, on behalf of the Hellenic Navy, is another great example of the US foreign military sales (FMS) program delivering results for the Hellenic Armed Forces. The Hellenic Navy’s S-70B sustainment and upgrade programs exemplify the strong cooperation between the US and Hellenic navies,” Pyatt commented.
“We see Greece developing the training and experience to service not only its own S-70B helicopters and its newly acquired MH-60 Romeos, but also other Sikorsky platforms throughout the wider region.”
The Hellenic Navy S-70 helicopters are a special variation of USN SH-60 Sea Hawk helicopters, with the code name Aegean Hawk. Their main missions are anti-surface warfare (ASuW), anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and surface surveillance.
Greece is also buying four MH-60R Seahawk helicopters from Lockheed under a $194 million contract from October 2020. Greece received the US State Department approval to buy up to seven MH-60Rs and related equipment for an estimated cost of $600 million in July 2019.
This is not the only Greek program Lockheed Martin is involved in. In December 2020, the country awarded the company a $279 million contract for the upgrade of its F-16 Viper fighters to the F-16V configuration.
