The Greek Army received another delivery of M1117 armored security vehicles from the US, the General Staff announced on May 1, kathimerini.com reports. The delivery comprises 130 vehicles, which brings to 174 the number of M117s received since December 2021.
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The Greek Army received 130 additional M1117 Guardian ASVs from the US, the General Staff announced on May 1 (Picture source: Hellenic army)
The vehicles are Excess Defense Articles and the U.S. Army uses FMS (Foreign Military Sales) to facilitate divesture, while simultaneously building partner capacity. The army is expected to receive 1,200 ASVs, at no cost, from the US army under the Excess Defense Articles program.
The Hellenic Armed Forces receive the vehicles at almost only the transportation costs. As the first vehicles come from a depot located in Europe, transportation costs are much lower than for the remaining vehicles that will be shipped from Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, California. The vehicles arriving from Germany are also in operational condition since storage at another location was not needed.
For the U.S., transferring the vehicles directly from the 21st Theater Sustainment Command immediately divests the unit of older vehicles and facilitates modernization. Vehicles declared EDA are no longer part of the Army’s inventory. The Security Assistance Command executes Army FMS.
The M1117 Guardian ASV was designed and manufactured by the American company Textron Marine & Land Systems. The 14-ton vehicle is a development of the famous Commando armored personnel carrier dating back to the Vietnam war, originally developed for the American military police. In the 2000s, it was purchased by the US Army as a kind of "light Ersatz MRAP " for use in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of HMMWVs. In total, the US Army purchased 2,058 units plus 844 M1200 based on them. To date, the main part of the redundant M1117s has been transferred to storage.
The external modular expandable armor system of ceramic composite material provides ballistic protection for the crew, ammunition, fuel tanks, and storage areas against 12.7mm armor-piercing ammunition. It has a crew of four. The M1117 Guardian's firepower consists of a one-person, non-stabilized, turreted primary weapons station with a mounted 40mm automatic grenade launcher (MK19 MOD 3) and a .50-caliber machine gun (M2/M48). The turret traverses 360° and allows for an elevation of 45°.
