Greek-Israeli defense ties on path to expansion
“We see Greece as an important market for Elbit and we certainly intend to deepen and expand our operations in Greece in the forthcoming years,” says Ran Kril, executive vice president of the Israeli defense industry Elbit Systems.
Speaking to Kathimerini, Krill expresses the belief that the
Greek government’s decision to choose the Israeli Defense Ministry as its
partner for a new Hellenic Air Force training center in the southern
Peloponnese city of Kalamata will further strengthen and expand ties between
the two countries’ air forces and will “contribute to the mutual transfer of knowledge.”
He adds that the Greek government “seems to lead a wide
effort to strengthen the defense capabilities through the introduction of
world-class high-tech systems,” explaining that “in countries with quality
education systems, human talent and the ethos of entrepreneurship, like in
Greece, long-term technological projects and deep ties with international
companies definitely encourage the growth and development of a
technology-oriented environment.”
There is a narrative according to which Israel’s whole
startup ecosystem sprang up from its defense industry. Can this happen in
Greece? And if so, what can we do to facilitate it?
In many countries, the defense industry is a powerful
generator of technological innovation in a wide range of fields, as is the case
in Israel, where defense technology companies have been at the forefront of the
thriving high-tech industry for decades. The demand from defense companies is
to develop, in a relatively short time, systemic and multi-disciplinary
technological solutions to varying challenges, thus generating a high rate of
development and innovation that creates a ‘ripple effect’ across the entire
technology industry. Throughout our years of operation, we have witnessed the
transformation of technologies developed at Elbit in response to security
challenges, into innovative developments in the fields of aviation, medicine,
communication and so on. In recent years, the global trend known as “Open
Innovation” has also strengthened in Israel, in which high-tech defense
companies such as Elbit embrace technological entrepreneurship that comes from
civilian fields in favor of developing groundbreaking solutions in the defense
field. The Greek government seems to lead a wide effort to strengthen the
defense capabilities through the introduction of world-class high-tech systems.
Our experience shows that in countries with quality education systems, human
talent and the ethos of entrepreneurship, like in Greece, long-term
technological projects and deep ties with international companies definitely
encourage the growth and development of a technology-oriented environment.
Are you planning other investments in Greece?
There is a special connection between Israel and Greece. We
see Greece as an important market for Elbit and we certainly intend to deepen
and expand our operations in Greece in the forthcoming years. There is a high
adequacy between Elbit’s technological capabilities and experience and the
defense needs of Greece. We also see a high correlation between the open way in
which Elbit conducts its business in the international arena, which includes
the transfer of knowledge and work in extensive collaboration with local
factors, and the Greek openness.
Israeli discipline and planning as well as operational
efficiency are constantly, and globally, praised. Do you think foreign threats
contributed to this and can Greece learn a lesson or two from Israel in this
respect?
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have extensive experience
in tackling a wide range of security challenges. Israel’s security needs are
constantly pushing forward the development of the defense technology in Israel.
It is likely that the connections that exist and those that are being developed
between the defense arms of Israel and Greece contribute to the mutual transfer
of knowledge. I believe that the decision of the Hellenic Government to select
the Israeli Ministry of Defense as a partner for the establishment and
operation of the training center of the Hellenic Air Force will further
strengthen and deepen the ties between the air forces and allow the transfer of
knowledge to benefit both parties.
Will Elbit be helping Greece accumulate know-how in defense?
The selection of Elbit to lead the establishment and
operation of the new training center was based on Elbit’s experience in
establishing and operating similar training centers for the Israeli Air Force
and other air forces, and on Elbit’s international leadership in developing and
supplying simulation systems for training pilots, sea crews and land forces.
Leading militaries such as the US and Britain recognize the uniqueness of
Elbit’s simulation and training technologies, selecting Elbit to provide
avionics systems for the new US Air Force T-7 training aircraft and to provide
the simulation systems for both the UK’s artillery forces and submarine crews.
We will be happy to contribute as much as we can in order to improve the
various capabilities in Greece. There are of course other directions in which
Elbit as an international high-tech company can cooperate with the Greek
industry.
There are several scenarios on modernizing and probably
converting some of the T-6 trainers, to a squadron that will be used for
operational Hellenic Air Force purposes. To what use?
The commercial discussions on this project between the
Israeli and Hellenic Ministry of Defense have not yet been completed and
therefore I cannot comment at this stage on the details related to the matter.
The plan is for Kalamata to become a training center with
regional clients. Have any countries already expressed interest? Could this be
a training hub for the Middle East and North Africa?
I can say with confidence that the new training center will
be first class in global terms, it will include one of the best training
aircraft available – Leonardo’s 346, which will be equipped with the best
training avionics available – and the new training center will operate some of
the best training and simulation systems in the world. The project’s built-in
cooperation with the Israeli Air Force will make it possible to assimilate
valuable knowledge and experience accumulated in the Israeli Air Force Flight
School. I have no doubt that Greece will be able to integrate more partners in
this program and the excellent ties that Greece has with quite a few countries
in the region, can soon lead to an increase in activity in this center.
Among other things, Elbit will provide the project modern
flight simulators. How many hours have been reserved on a yearly basis for the
training of Hellenic Airforce pilots? Will there be other investments in
infrastructure?
As early as 2016, the Israeli Air Force published in its
journal that in one year more than 30,000 training missions were performed in
simulators and that the goal of the Israeli Air Force was that within four
years 30% of the corps’ training missions would be performed in simulators.
Economic efficiency, though, is only one part of the story. Improving the
readiness made possible by the use of advanced simulation systems is the heart
of the matter. Air forces are constantly striving to improve the readiness of
pilots. The quality of technology makes it possible to conduct flight training
on the ground, in intricate contours, in enemy territory and simulate, at the
highest level of affinity, threats and extreme situations that are almost
impossible to reach in real flight. The motto of Elbit’s training field is
“train as you fight.” The systems we provide enable just that. The simulation
technologies that will be integrated into the new training center will not take
place only on the ground. Each 346 aircraft that will operate in the training
center will include training systems embedded in the cockpit. These systems make
it possible to exhaust much more from any training flight by creating and
injecting situations and threats for pilots in a tangible and realistic way
that require them to respond and cope while flying. Just like in combat. The
Hellenic Air Force will determine the combination between aircraft training
hours and the use of ground simulators.
Stimulating the economy
Many argue that economic development can be greatly enhanced
by expenditures in R&D and defense manufacturing. Do you share this view
and can you quantify it?
I definitely share this view. Investments in research and
development tend to encourage technological entrepreneurship, industrial
collaborations and attract international high-tech players. We are also
witnessing countries that view defense production as an effective leverage for
stimulating the economy, especially given the economic impact of Covid-19. We
are recently seeing countries that have increased their defense expenditure for
that purpose.
How do you think defense will evolve in the future? Will
wars be fought by machines and artificial intelligences, as some claim and
technological progress suggests?
There are a number of key trends that will likely shape the
defense area in the next decade. An increased interest in combining autonomous
capabilities alongside manned capabilities is certainly one of them. We see a
growing demand for the integration of unmanned vessels to ensure the
sovereignty of economic waters and to deal with threats in the underwater
arena. A similar thing is happening in the ground arena with the integration of
robotic systems to perform a variety of tasks – from intelligence gathering,
through evacuation of wounded and transfer of supplies to attack, and of course
in aerial arena with the maturation of technologies that enable to perform
missions with combined forces of unmanned and manned aircraft. It improves task
efficiency, economic efficiency and it preserves human life. Another trend is
the expansion of activity in the electromagnetic spectrum. Various
confrontations from recent years have shed light on the importance of the
ability of military forces to operate in the electromagnetic spectrum whether
for the purpose of gathering intelligence or for the purpose of thwarting
hostile operations. We see that countries are investing considerable efforts in
improving their capabilities in this area in all dimensions of combat – air,
land and sea. The ability of military forces to turn electronic signals into
intelligence, and the capacity to use electronic tools to disrupt and thwart
enemy threats and actions, are proven time and time again to distinguish
between success and failure. Another clear trend is the transformation of
combat efforts into multidimensional and networked. Militaries and security
forces are adopting at an accelerated pace capabilities that enable them to
deploy various forces in a coordinated and synchronized manner in a way that
greatly improves effectiveness and survivability. This of course requires the
implementation of digital communication and network systems as well as Command
& Control technologies that are capable of operating in various domains of
operations. Artificial intelligence is certainly an important technological
generator present in each of these trends. We see artificial intelligence as
being integrated into almost everything we do – from sensor systems and
autonomous systems to communication, command & control, to avionics.
Significant development is also taking place in the field of aviation. Military
aircraft are becoming more sophisticated, with the systems currently available
to pilots allowing them to carry out missions that could not be performed in
the past. Flight computers, vision in adverse conditions, communications and
navigation – all of these bring the aircraft to the next generation of
capabilities. The challenge at the moment is to train future pilots to use
these advanced capabilities in preparation for their integration into
operational arrays.
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