WW2C OLD WAR 1946-1991 DESERTER OR PATRIOT?/// GREEK THUNDERFLASH GREEK THUNDERFLASH GREEK THUNDERFLASH
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110 FLYPAST January 2018B a b a k T a g h v a l ks back l g s vice life G ek RF-84Fs, clud g c s w h RAF Lightn gs 1964
W
ith an extensive coastline
from the Aegean to the
Mediterranean Sea and
a huge number of islands and islets,
the territorial waters of Greece have
always been challenging to protect.
From the 1950s to the 1990s the
land borders of the NATO member
country faced the communist
countries of Albania, Bulgaria and
Yugoslavia to the north and Turkey to
the east.
Clearly, tactical reconnaissance
has always been a vital asset to the
Hellenic Air Force (HAF). For an
incredible 35 years from 1956, tac-
recce was the responsibility of a fleet of
34 Republic RF-84F Thunderflashes,
which logged a total of 80,000 hours
of flight.
In 1953, technicians of the 335th
Mira (squadron) of the 112th Ptérix
(wing) experimentally installedcameras in the port tip-tanks of six
straight-winged Republic F-84G
Thunderjets. Satisfactory results led to
20 Lockheed RT-33As being delivered
by the US under the Mutual Defense
Assistance Program (MDAP) between
1954 and 1955.
The converted F-84Gs became the
first aircraft of the 348th Mira Taktikíc
Anagnoríseos (MTA – tac-recce
squadron) at Larissa on July 7, 1954.
The RT-33As acted as a low-cost
stopgap until the arrival of the more
capable swept-wing RF-84F.
As well as meeting national
requirements, the RF-84Fs also served
NATO by monitoring the Warsaw
Pact countries of the Balkans, where
the Soviet Union had troops stationed.
Two dozen Thunderflashes were
delivered between 1956 and 1958.
Two former Royal Netherlands Air
Force machines arrived in 1963, asattrition replacements.Mul -ro ’Fl s
An agreement was signed in 1966
under the MDAP for eight surplus
West German Air Force examples.
These were handed over during the
following year; two were cannibalised
for their parts while the rest entered
service with the 348th MTA.
The first RF-84F mission left Larissa
on August 6, 1956. The HAF’s
Thunderflashes usually carried just
three cameras for tac-recce despite a
capability to take six.
The jet was capable of night
photography via a K-37 camera
synchronised with photoflash
cartridges, but due to limited
instrument flying proficiency it was
not used nocturnally.
There were four 0.50in Browning
M3 machine guns in the wing roots