The first M1117 Guardian armored vehicles in Greece – How much is expected – What will happen to the M-113
The first ones have been in the Attica camp since the early hours of Saturday morning M1117 which the Army acquires from the reserves of the American Armed Forces. They arrived on Friday morning by train from Germany at the Rouf station and from there through the streets of the capital which were closed by the Traffic Police, they drove to the camp in order to pass another technical inspection. Germany SX executives had inspect the vehicles under receipt – before being transported to the Units of Evros but also of the Aegean islands painted with the Greek variant.
The Covid-19 pandemic had already caused some significant delays in both receiving the first M1117 Guardian from Germany as well as the control of the remaining 1200 vehicles in the USA which in the coming months will also arrive by ship in our country. The Army has finally overcome the problems and the Border Units will soon have the “guards” at their disposal in order to meet the great demands for surveillance. Just the fact that the first 44 “Guardians” were led by the Army officer to reach from the train station to the first base where they will be hosted, but also their general external and internal image shows that they are in very good condition and they will take action soon.
Most have a similar picture 1200 M1117 which were inspected in the USA according to the information carried by the SX ladder which went to choose the Greek “Guardian”. In fact, a large number of them have moved only on safe roads in the USA since they belonged to the American National Guard. In addition, the M1117 are vehicles that are very easy to maintain so that they can be integrated in the Greek Units and quickly without any particular problems. The Army already has both machine guns and grenade launchers as well as radios ready to equip whatever M1117 will undertake business action while a small number are used for use spare parts.
The ASV (Armored Security Vehicl e) M1117 “Guardian” have been operating since the early 1990s and have been used extensively and with great success by the US Armed Forces, mainly in Iraq and Afghanistan. With very satisfactory armor, machine gun armament Tour 0.50 and grenade launcher MK19, M1117 can be applied to successful missions and reconnaissance, for escort but also as command vehicles while with conversion can be transported in addition to the three positions additional soldiers. Their flexibility and relatively small size, which does not exceed six meters in length, fully covers the needs of the Units in Evros and the Aegean islands, while as a wheeled vehicle, a speed of up to 100 km can be developed.
The M1117 “Guardian”, however, was not acquired to replace the old ones ΤΟΜΠ Μ-113 Α1-Α1Ε-Α2 which are owned by motorized Infantry Units and not only for many decades. And this is the next big issue for the Army. With the GES not hiding that the ideal replacement for the “ducklings” as they are called M-113 is none other than American M2 Bradley. Class armor AFM (Armored Fightin g Vehicle) with 25mm gun M242 Bushmaster, anti-tank carrier BGM-71 TOW and 7.62mm machine gun. With the Army General Staff awaiting the “green” light from the US in the request for concession 350 Bradley.