According to a breaking report from defencenet, the Turkish corvette Badirma violated Greek territorial water earlier on Tuesday, and appeared just off the coast of Eastern Attica. The warship, which set off an alarm to the National Operations Center, was so close to the Greek coast that it could be spotted from the area of Messogeia! The report on defencenet claims that the ship sailed throughout the night from the Dardanelles area and then followed a path south-west.
Greek navy officials began monitoring its course immediately and as soon as it began to approach Evia a second frigate accompanied the Greek warship.
The report states that the Turkish warship passed the straits of Kafireas at about 08.00 am and then approached the seaside town of Rafina (north-east from Athens). At this point two Greek F-16 fighters took off from a nearby air base and began flying over the ship at a low range.
This was the first time that F-16 were dispatched to intercept" a foreign frigate. All previous missions were usually executed by Mirage 2000BGM. This has now changed, since F-16s now have the ability to perform air-to-surface missions (as demonstrated in recent military exercises, dropping laser-guided bombs (LGB).)
This was also the first time that a Turkish warship was targeted by a Greek fighter with laser bombs, -a skill that requires exceptional training from our servicemen-.
(Not to worry though, our boys are well educated and quite skillful)!
Unconfirmed reports also claim that the Greek fighters were equipped with guided missiles and air-to-ground (which are used against large surface units) AGB-65 Maverick.
The Turkish frigate quickly left the area of Attiki and then continued on through Greek territorial waters to the island of Kea, with open sensors, (so there is no question of innocent passage.)
The Greek air fighters once again flew over the Turkish ship in a ploy to intimidate the Turkish side. From what was reported, the ship then began to turn eastward and according to the latest bulletin it is now near west of Milos -but is closely being monitored by several Greek navy ships-.
Check back later for any updates to this story in case there are developments.
Reference in Greek - defencenet
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