Anniversary event to mark 50 years of service for the historic F-4 fighter jets, also known as “Phantom”, was held on Wednesday afternoon at the 117th Fighter Wing/Andravidas Air Force Base. The event was attended by the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias and the Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Andreas Nikolakopoulos.

See the footage of SKAI correspondent Christos Stratoulakos from the anniversary event, with an air show of historic aircraft.

The F-4 in the Hellenic Air Force

According to Wikipedaia, the first 36 F-4E Phantom IIs in Greece were purchased in 1972 under the Peace Icarus I program. The deal – then worth 5 billion drachmas – was completed quickly, and on 20 April 1974 the type joined the PA and was distributed to the 338th Fighter/Bombardment Squadron and 339th All Weather Squadron.

Then, in 1976, Greece purchased 24 more F-4Es and RF-4E photodetectors. This program was called Peace Icarus II. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Air Force received a further 27 RF-4Es from the German Air Force. After 1990 and in exchange for the renewal of the US bases agreement, the PA acquired from the US Air National Guard 28 more F-4E SRAs.

By the mid-1990s, the extensive purchase of 3rd generation aircraft from Greece and Turkey made the older Phantoms far inferior. Thus, in 1997 PA and the German DASA reached an agreement for an extensive aircraft upgrade program. This program was named Peace Icarus 2000 and upgraded with 3rd generation aircraft capabilities 38 of the existing F-4s, all of the Peace Icarus I and II programs. At the same time the ODA began upgrading used aircraft. This upgrade was primarily a replacement of structural components to extend the life of the aircraft. After all, before they were sold, the US Air National Guard used them regularly and therefore they already had satisfactory operational capabilities and it was considered unprofitable to upgrade them technologically.

The Peace Icarus 2000 it was one of the best F-4 upgrade programs in the world. It includes the installation of new digital displays in the aircraft cockpit, the installation of the APG-65GR radar, new inertial navigation systems, as well as software and wiring to launch the modern AIM-120 AMRAAM and AGM-65G Maverick missiles. Finally, the aircraft are equipped with Israeli-made flight computers.