Submarine hunt angers Turkey

During the Greek-French exercises in the eastern Aegean Sea, a scenario for detecting and pursuing a submarine was worked out, which caused a mixed reaction from Turkey.

As tells exclusive material CNN Greece, Greco-French exercises were held in the strictest secrecy in one of the “hottest” areas of the Aegean, sending a deterrent signal in the face of Turkish provocations. The hunt for the submarine angered Ankara and caused great irritation.

A joint exercise involving the Greek submarine 209 and a French military aircraft that is part of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, which remains in the Eastern Mediterranean, took place last Monday. The scenario of the headquarters of the two countries envisaged: the submarine would dive into the area southeast of Karpathos and remain at periscope depth, and the French AFNE would try to determine its position using sound buoys. After being discovered, the Greek vessel made evasive maneuvers, breaking contact with the aircraft in order to escape again.

According to senior sources, this is a typical Casex-type scenario. They claim that the AFNE spent difficult hours “chasing” the Greek submarine, as the professionalism and ability of the Greek Navy officers once again demonstrated who is dominant on the bottom of the Aegean.

The French wanted to show support for Greece even in areas where many Allies would think twice before approaching. And also to show that they do not trust Ankara at all. Recognizing Turkey’s delinquent behavior in the Aegean, they asked the Air Force to escort an “Atlantic” naval operational aircraft, as they believed it could be harassed by Turkish fighters.

Two F-16s of the 340th Fighter Squadron “Fox” flew out of the 115th Fighter Wing and followed the French aircraft throughout the exercise. Even when the Turkish CN-235 tried to approach the area reserved for joint exercises with the Greek submarine, the Air Force fighters recognized and intercepted the Turkish “spy” who came in a “wedge” to monitor the movements of the Greek submarine.

The developed scenario made Ankara remember events that were not very pleasant for her – it was taken from the Greek-Turkish crisis “Oruch Reis”, which in the summer of 2020 “set” the fleets of Greece and Turkey against each other for many weeks. At that time, Greek submarines became a real “nightmare” for Turkish ships, as they not only managed to remain “invisible” to enemy sonar, but also “locked” their targets, leaving no room for the Turkish fleet to escape.

A typical example is the submarine PAPANIKOLIS S120, which, breaking all records, spent 34 days submerged, significantly “undermining” the morale of the Turkish headquarters.

EXCLUSIVE: Exercise is a hunt that irritated Ankara

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