Critics round on €500m aircraft deal for Greek navy

During its time in opposition, Greece's radical leftwing Syriza party was quick to accuse the government of "excessive" spending on defence and a lack of transparency regarding military contracts.

Now, the Syriza-led administration of Alexis Tsipras, prime minister, faces censure for signing a €500m deal last month to upgrade five ageing US-made P-3B Orion maritime patrol aircraft while slashing funds for anti-poverty projects.

Adding to the intrigue, the government kept quiet about a deal that was Greece's biggest defence procurement since 2006. It was revealed by Proto Thema, an Athens newspaper, even though it would normally have been presented to parliament's defence committee for discussion.

The agreement has exposed conflicting priorities in the Syriza-led coalition government, which came to power after January elections.

Its far-left faction is strongly opposed to buying US military equipment, while Panos Kammenos, the defence minister and leader of the rightwing Independent Greeks (Anel) party, the junior coalition partner, wants to improve aerial surveillance of Greece's 15,000km coastline.

Others accuse Syriza of reneging on its election promise to make poverty alleviation a spending priority.

"How come the government is spending €200m to tackle the humanitarian crisis and €500m for defence?" Stavros Theodorakis, leader of the centre-left To Potami (the River) party, asked. "They've embarked on the largest defence programme in years at a time when the economic crisis is acute and the state's coffers are literally empty."

A defence ministry official defended the agreement, saying it would prolong the aircraft's lifespan by "at least 20 years," while providing work for Hellenic Aerospace Industry, a lossmaking state-controlled aerospace company, and ISI, a private Greek defence software house.

Syriza's partnership with Mr Kammenos and his nationalist party is considered vital to maintaining the loyalty of the armed forces to a government led by former communists - many of whom were jailed in their youth for resistance to the 1967-74 military regime.

The military has lost influence as tensions with Turkey have receded but it remains a formidable institution in a country with a nationalist tradition.

Greek naval officers in particular are known to be frustrated over budget cuts that have delayed overhauls of ageing ships, reducing the fleet's seagoing capacity. "We've seen chronic shortages of spare parts and vessels being cannibalised to keep others afloat," said one recently-retired officer.

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"There are pros and cons to this deal," said an editor at Defence & Diplomacy, a Greek publication. "There are cheaper alternative planes but the Orion can fly many more hours, has a bigger range and can fly for many more hours without refuelling."

Last year, as migrant inflows from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan increased, the centre-right government of Antonis Samaras, the prime minister, decided that five P-3Bs should be refurbished and recalled to monitor the narrow crossing between Turkey and the eastern Greek islands used last year by 25,000 informal migrants and asylum seekers.

"The humanitarian rescue issue became pressing," said an Athens-based military analyst. "The radar network on the islands often has technical problems and its range is too limited to reliably pick up traffickers' vessels. The navy wanted to get the PC-3B operating again as a matter of urgency."

Greece's role as a destination for people smugglers was highlighted last week when 200 migrants landed on Gavdos, a small island south of Crete. This week coastguard's rescued 90 people when a traffickers' vessel was wrecked on the coast of Rhodes. Three bodies were recovered.

"These are islands that haven't previously been much targeted by the traffickers because they're harder to reach," said a coastguard official. "If we had aircraft surveillance, especially off Crete, we would be much better equipped to handle a fast-moving situation."

In the first three months of this year the number of migrant arrivals by sea tripled to almost 10,500, the same official said.

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