Like plenty of worldwide aircraft spotters, in May 2017 I attended the retirement ceremony that was being organised by the Hellenic Air Force for their Recce Phantoms. Importantly for both the Hellenic Air Force and Larissa Air Base, the event was not just the retirement of the Recce Phantom from European service but also the “suspension of operations” of 348 MTA, Greece’s first and last reconnaissance squadron, after 64 years of operations and four types operated.
Attrition losses and a need to increase operational tempo saw an intake of 27 airframes from the German Air Force in the 90s. From 2003 the jets were also tasked with Signal Intelligence using the French-built ASTAC pod. Sadly, all good things must come to an end and while the jet could undoubtedly remain a potent asset for the HAF, technology marches forward and the reconnaissance roles can be performed as competently within each squadron with the likes of the SNIPER pod without the need for dedicated airframes.
The retirement event for the A-7 Corsair IIs held at Araxos Air Base in 2014 set expectations very high for this event. Furthermore, the organisers had stated their hopes for a large contingent of HAF types and international visitors to attend throughout both days. Sadly, for both the squadron and the spotters, the hoped for spectacle was not to be, though not for lack of trying.
The pilots and squadron had made huge preparations for this event in the months before the event, with the focus being excellent photography for the spotters with plenty of top side passes. However, only a few days beforehand orders from high up were given that meant the squadron had to cancel their grand plans with no time to prepare anything else. Consequently, on the day, the flying from the Phantoms were mostly straightforward standard ops; normal takeoffs and only one or two very high flypasts. Some concession was made with all three jets taxiing closely past the assembled crowds, stopping and posing for photographs.
Adding to the lack of phantom movements, the hosts also suffered from a lack of domestic and international visitors, especially since many spotters were hoping for at least a pair of F-4 phantoms from the HAF. Besides several Larissa based F-16 movements (some even armed with live weapons) and practice displays by the Zeus F-16 and Daedalus T-6 Texan teams, the only Greek aircraft that visited the base during the spotters day was a Mirage 2000BG, which performed a solitary missed approach before departing in a spectacular way, and a pair of Belgian F-16s that travelled all the way from Florennes AB. A pair of RAF Tornado GR4s that were scheduled to arrive on the day suffered a bird strike on takeoff and thus had to cancel their attendance.
The next day saw the official retirement ceremony for the squadron, and the last shut down of a European RF-4E. The three Phantoms performed multiple flypasts with a HAF Mirage 2000 (with a special livery tail) and F-16, before a break over the crowd themselves and a standard run into land. There were displays by the aforementioned Zeus and Daedalus, together with visits from a HAF C-27 Spartan and a Hellenic Army Huey, bringing VIP from the HAF to attend the ceremony.
A summary of the event can be seen in the pictures below.
alistairzammitphotography.com 