US Army donates M1117 armoured security vehicles to Greece

The first 44 M1117 wheeled armoured security vehicles (ASVs) donated by the US Army to Greece arrived in Athens on 26 November.

The vehicles are part of a total of 60 stationed in Germany that were audited by a Hellenic Army committee. They were sent to Greece by rail via central Europe and Bulgaria. The official acceptance ceremony for the vehicles is scheduled for 1 December at the 301 Military Factory in Agioi Anargyroi near Athens.

The ASVs, which were donated without weapons and communication equipment, will be fitted with TRC 92000 radio sets already possessed by the Hellenic Army. They will be armed with M2HB 12.7 mm, M85 50-cal or M-60A1/A3 7.62 mm machine guns.

A second batch of M1117 ASVs will be sent to Greece from the United States. A total of 1,200 vehicles are being audited by Hellenic Army officers and around half are expected to be accepted for Greece.

The 44 M1117s delivered will be deployed to special forces and the next 250 to infantry battalion reconnaissance platoons.