The Hellenic Tactical Air Force Command (, "Tactical Air Force Headquarters") is the operational command of 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 ...

, comprising all combat units and formations of the Hellenic Air Force. It was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

. The HTAF headquarters is also responsible for

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 ...

's national air defence and the

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

operations within the

Athens FIR Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, and has operational control over the air defence units of the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

and the

Hellenic Navy The Hellenic Navy (HN; , abbreviated ΠΝ) is the Navy, naval force of Greece, part of the Hellenic Armed Forces. The modern Greek navy historically hails from the naval forces of various Aegean Islands, which fought in the Greek War of Independ ...

as well. In addition, it hosts the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Combined Air Operations Centre-7 (CAOC-7) which is headquartered in the nearby village of Koutsohero.

History

The HTAF was founded in 1952 by Royal Decree 46/30-4-1952. It was renamed 28th Tactical Air Force Headquarters (28ο Αρχηγείο Τακτικής Αεροπορίας) in 1953, when it was moved to Larissa. It was again renamed to 28th Tactical Air Force Command (28η Τακτική Αεροπορική Διοίκηση) in 1968, to 28th Tactical Air Force (28η Τακτική Αεροπορική Δύναμη) in 1970, to 28th Tactical Air Force Headquarters (28ο Αρχηγείο Τακτικής Αεροπορικής Δύναμης) in 1977. In 1979, the numerical prefix was dropped, and it received to its present name in 1984.

Subordinate units

{{Main, Structure of the Hellenic Air Force

External links

Hellenic Tactical Air Force
at the Hellenic Air Force website Larissa Military units and formations of the Hellenic Air Force National air defence operations centres 1952 establishments in Greece