Andravida Air Base () is a military airport operated by the

Hellenic Air Force The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; , sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (''Hellenic'' being the endonym for ''Greek'' in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO, and is globally placed 1 ...

, located 2.5 kilometres from the town of

Andravida Andravida (, ) is a town and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Elis (regional unit), Elis, in the northwest of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipal ...

Elis Elis also known as Ellis or Ilia (, ''Eleia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, housing the 117th Combat Wing (117 Πτέρυγα Μάχης, 117 ΠΜ), and the Air Force's Air Tactics Center (Κέντρο Αεροπορικής Τακτικής, ΚΕΑΤ).

History

Construction on the Andravida base began in 1955, with the first air detachment established there in June 1960. In March 1961, the detachment was transformed into the 117th Combat Group (117 Σμηναρχία Μάχης), comprising the

F-84F The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak is an American swept-wing turbojet-powered fighter-bomber. The RF-84F Thunderflash is variant of the F-84F that was designed for photo reconnaissance. The design was originally intended to be a relatively simple ...

-equipped 339th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. In May 1969, the unit was upgraded to a full combat wing, and chosen to receive into service the

F-4E Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowers ...

fighters. This necessitated extensive reconstruction and upgrading of the existing facilities, and in 1973, 339th Squadron had to be relocated to the nearby

Araxos Air Base Araxos Airport () is the airport of Patras, the third-largest city in Greece. It serves as a combined civilian and military airport and is located near its namesake, the village of Araxos, Achaea. It is also known as ''Agamemnon Airport'' and pri ...

. Among other infrastructure changes, a third runway and a weather radar were added by 1978. The first F-4E aircraft arrived in April 1974, and deliveries were completed by the end of the year, allowing for the equipment of two squadrons: the returning 339th Squadron, now designated "339th All-Weather Squadron", took up an interceptor role, and the

338th Fighter-Bomber Squadron The 338th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (, 338 MΔΒ), callsign "Ares", is a Squadron (aviation), squadron in service with the Hellenic Air Force, forming part of the 117th Combat Wing (HAF), 117th Combat Wing. It is based at Andravida Air Base, and is ...

. 339 Squadron disbanded on 31st October 2017, but 338 Squadron remains at Andravida under 117th CW to this day. In 1975, the Weapons-Tactics School (Σχολείο Όπλων Τακτικής, ΣΟΤ) was established at Andravida, providing advanced courses on air tactics and electronic warfare. In addition, the 368th Applied Training Flight, of four

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

, was formed at Andravida in December 1976 and operated until March 1989. In 1983, the Weapons-Tactics School, along with the rest of the Air Force's various advanced schools, which until then were scattered among a number of air bases and operated under different directorates, were consolidated in a single unit, the Air Tactics Center, a combat wing-level unit also based at Andravida. Every year the Tactical Weapons School of the Air Tactics Centre hosts Exercise Iniochos which practices offensive and defensive counter air, tactical reconnaissance and combat search and rescue.

References

External links

Andravida in Airports Worldwide
{{authority control Hellenic Air Force bases Buildings and structures in Elis 1955 establishments in Greece Airports in Greece Transport infrastructure in Western Greece