KALAMATA: Greece on Friday launched operations at a new international pilot training center created in partnership with Israel, as it tries to build on its relative air power advantage over regional rival Turkey.
Israeli defense contractor Elbit, which finalized a $1.65 billion deal with Greece’s government, assisted by Israel, last year, will help run the facility located on an air force base outside the southern Greek city of Kalamata.
Greece is undertaking an armed forces modernization program largely focused on its air force, as it hopes to outpace Turkey. Athens is acquiring advanced French-built Rafale jets, upgrading its aging fleet of F-16 fighter jets and wants to join the United States’ F-35 jet program.
Turkey was dropped from the F-35 program after its purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system.
NATO members Greece and Turkey remain at odds over sea boundaries and the military presence on eastern Greek islands that Ankara maintains violates international treaties.
The new training center started operating Friday with 14 of an expected 25 T-6 single-engine turboprop aircraft. The fleet is set to expand next year with the delivery of 19 Italian-built M-346 training jets equipped with embedded virtual avionics that simulate combat and and flight scenarios.
While the flight school officially opened Friday it will not be fully operational until early 2024, Elbit officials said.
Major Gen. Georgios Vagenas, commander of the Greek Air Force Training Command, said the T-6 aircraft would provide 7,000 flight training hours annually, while the M-346 jets would provide 3,500 hours.
“These facilities will prepare fighter squadrons for the generation of fighter aircraft that the air force recently acquired,” Vagenas said. “It will be the main mechanism to counter threats ... coming from our neighbor to the east.”
![]()
With eye on Turkey, Greece opens Israeli-built flight school
Short Url
https://arab.news/mfak6
With eye on Turkey, Greece opens Israeli-built flight school
- Greece is undertaking an armed forces modernization program largely focused on its air force, as it hopes to outpace Turkey
- The new training center started operating on Friday
Trump’s new envoy arrives in South Africa with relations frayed
JOHANNESBURG: A conservative media critic picked by President Donald Trump to be US ambassador to South Africa has arrived to take up his post, the US embassy said Tuesday, as relations between the countries remain fraught.
Brent Bozell’s arrival has been keenly awaited with ties between South Africa and the United States becoming increasingly strained after Trump returned to office in January 2025.
“I’m confirming that he’s in country,” a US embassy official told AFP. Trump’s new envoy arrives in South Africa to frayed relations
Trump announced that he had chosen Bozell for the job in March, soon after expelling South Africa’s ambassador on accusations that he was critical of Washington. Pretoria has yet to announce a successor.
Trump said at the time that Bozell “brings fearless tenacity, extraordinary experience, and vast knowledge to a nation that desperately needs it.”
The ambassador-designate still needs to present his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa before officially taking up his post.
The embassy and South Africa’s foreign ministry could not say when this would happen.
Bozell, 70, is founder of the Media Research Center, a non-profit that says it works to “expose and counter the leftist bias of the national news media.”
One of the several sticking points between Washington and Pretoria is South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Bozell is reported to be a strong defender of Israel. Pretoria expelled Israel’s top diplomat last month, citing a “series of violations.”
The Trump administration boycotted South Africa’s G20 in Johannesburg last year and has not invited the nation to its own hosting of the group of leading economies this year.
The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner by country after China.
The previous ambassador, Reuben Brigety, resigned in November 2024, just before Trump took office.
Brent Bozell’s arrival has been keenly awaited with ties between South Africa and the United States becoming increasingly strained after Trump returned to office in January 2025.
“I’m confirming that he’s in country,” a US embassy official told AFP. Trump’s new envoy arrives in South Africa to frayed relations
Trump announced that he had chosen Bozell for the job in March, soon after expelling South Africa’s ambassador on accusations that he was critical of Washington. Pretoria has yet to announce a successor.
Trump said at the time that Bozell “brings fearless tenacity, extraordinary experience, and vast knowledge to a nation that desperately needs it.”
The ambassador-designate still needs to present his credentials to President Cyril Ramaphosa before officially taking up his post.
The embassy and South Africa’s foreign ministry could not say when this would happen.
Bozell, 70, is founder of the Media Research Center, a non-profit that says it works to “expose and counter the leftist bias of the national news media.”
One of the several sticking points between Washington and Pretoria is South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
Bozell is reported to be a strong defender of Israel. Pretoria expelled Israel’s top diplomat last month, citing a “series of violations.”
The Trump administration boycotted South Africa’s G20 in Johannesburg last year and has not invited the nation to its own hosting of the group of leading economies this year.
The United States is South Africa’s second-biggest trading partner by country after China.
The previous ambassador, Reuben Brigety, resigned in November 2024, just before Trump took office.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.