The Greek defence minister briefed a relevant Parliament committee on Wednesday over a controversial US$500 million contract awarded directly to a US contractor for the upgrading of five naval support planes kept in … storage since 2009.
The deal to modernize five P-3B “Orion” maritime surveillance planes hadn’t seen the light of day until an exclusive front-page article by Proto Thema this month.
The decision to proceed with the significant defence outlay — via a direct tender to Lockheed-Martin — comes at a time when state coffers are emptying, as the leftist SYRIZA government’s inches towards a compromise with Eurogroup creditors in a bid to receive a bailout tranche of roughly seven billion euros.

State finances since February have deteriorated to the point where the government this week ordered that all state-affiliated entities, including municipalities and regional governments, transfer their cash reserves to the central bank, where they’ll enjoy … limited access to their own funds.

The decision to upgrade the “antique” turbo prop planes – an early 1960s aviation design – was taken by a relevant top government committee (KYSEA) on March 15, 2015, almost two months after the election. That decision was never officially publicized.

According to sources, during the closed-door briefing Kammenos tried to persuade MPs over the need for the planes’ modernization to the tune of 500 million dollars. Moreover, he referred to “international situations – you see what’s happening in Libya with the illegal migrants that are trying to reach Europe; we want to have long-range (surveillance) aircraft…”

Asked about a previous document by Lockheed-Martin stating that the modernization of the five planes was not the “appropriate solution”,  Vice-Adm Vangelis Apostolakis confirmed the assessment, but said company representatives later inspected the immobilized planes and “called them the best preserved they have ever seen…” This assessment would have come almost six years after the planes remained parked on an airbase’s tarmac.

The controversial contract was the object of a Financial Times dispatch from Athens on Wednesday, written by the paper’s veteran correspondent in Athens, Kerin Hope.

The FT articles notes that “…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.”