- US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drones deployed in Greece during the final weeks of 2022.
- From the Larissa airbase, the drones will keep an eye on the NATO borders in south-eastern Europe.
- The deployment comes as NATO grapples with the war in Ukraine and tensions between Turkey and Greece.
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Late last year, the US deployed MQ-9 Reaper drones to the Greek air base in Larissa.
The deployment comes amid Russia’s ongoing attack on Ukraine, which has fueled tensions across Europe, but the drones also arrived in Greece as that country and Turkey, both NATO allies, have a war of words over their longstanding territorial ties and political rivalries.
Their dispute has presented a new challenge for the US and its NATO allies as their leaders seek to maintain Alliance support for Ukraine and manage a new phase of the conflict with Russia.
predator in the heavens
U.S. Air Force Airmen conduct pre-flight checks on an MQ-9 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in May. US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Christa Anderson
For security reasons, the US Air Force did not disclose how many Reapers were stationed at the base, but local media reported that eight drones are now operating there.
Able to fly remotely or autonomously, the Reaper has a maximum lifespan of 27 hours and can reach altitudes of 50,000 feet. The drone has “a unique ability” to conduct attack missions, gather intelligence and track “high-value” targets, the US Air Force says, and it played a prominent role in the war in Afghanistan.
Larissa Air Base, located in central Greece near the Aegean Sea, “is a strategic location,” and the base, recently upgraded to house the Reapers, will allow the drones to “fly both the eastern and to easily support the southern flank of NATO”. a spokesman for the US Air Force in Europe told Defense News. (Flight trackers have also reported a US-made RQ-4B Global Hawk landing at Larissa, suggesting the base can support even larger drones.)
The deployment is not in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the spokesman added, but its placement there “helps deter and avoid conflict with Russia.”
A U.S. Air Force F-15C at Larissa Air Base in May 2021. U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sergeant Alex Fox Echols III
NATO has paid more attention in recent years to its southeastern border, where it borders conflicts in the Middle East and increasingly contentious activities in the eastern Mediterranean. Since Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, the alliance has also increased its attention to its eastern flank.
Both trends have raised Greece’s profile, especially for the US.
Deliveries destined for Ukraine are often unloaded at the Greek port of Alexandroupoli and transported by rail through Bulgaria and Romania. The same network supports US operations in the Black Sea region.
The US presence in the region has also increased significantly, with numerous US-Greek exercises, more shipments of US troops and equipment by Greece, and the stationing of more US assets at Greek bases.
The Reaper deployment and enhanced military cooperation between the US and Greece are made possible by an updated Comprehensive Defense Agreement signed in October 2021, which also includes a mutual defense clause.
A complicated alliance
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Istanbul in March 2022. Xinhua via Getty Images
The increased US presence in Greece comes at a time of heightened tensions between Greece and Turkey that have rocked the alliance and frustrated the US in particular.
Greece and Turkey are at odds over a range of issues, including the ethnically divided island of Cyprus, maritime delimitation zones and energy use rights in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean.
They have come close to war on several occasions in recent decades, and current tensions have risen after Turkey challenged Greece’s sovereignty over islands in the eastern Aegean. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has even threatened to attack Greece. The verbal sparring has raised concerns about the first open conflict between NATO members.
Turkey, whose relationship with the US has deteriorated on a number of issues, has also been critical of US-Greece relations, particularly their expanding military exchanges.
“American military bases in Greece are so numerous that they cannot be counted,” Erdogan said a month after the US and Greece signed their updated cooperation agreement, adding, “Greece has become a virtual outpost of America.”
A US Army M1A2 tank is unloaded in Alexandroupoli in July 2021. US Army/Andre Cameron
Turkish public opinion towards the US is also influenced by American operations in Greece, Ioannis Grigoriadis, an associate professor at Turkey’s Bilkent University, told Insider.
“Amid discussions of a ‘truly independent’ Turkish foreign and security policy, such developments may further fuel anti-American sentiment that has taken root in Turkish public opinion over the past 20 years,” Grigoriadis said.
Greece and Turkey will both hold national elections in the spring, leading some to view their statements as campaigning. Efforts to defuse the situation are underway, according to Greek reports.
The US had tried to remain neutral in the disputes between Greece and Turkey, occasionally intervening to prevent full-scale conflict, but now Washington faces a very difficult situation trying to support Athens and defusing tensions with Ankara to cope with, according to Professor Ryan Gingeras at the Naval Postgraduate School.
“For Washington, keeping the peace can come down to two unfavorable decisions,” Gingeras wrote this month. The US could pressure Greece to “give up aspects of its sovereignty” and even abandon its mutual defense cooperation agreement, or the US could act as a “de facto guarantor” of Greece’s sovereignty, leading to the planning of a conflict with Turkey could – and raise questions about the integrity of NATO.
Constantine Atlamazoglou works on transatlantic and European security. He holds a Master’s degree in Security Studies and European Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. You can contact him on LinkedIn.