Top-shelf weapons with bottom-shelf treatment
As I heard the news of the explosion at the ammunition dump in Nea Anchialos last week, I confess to a serious sense of unease. It was not the usual unease about the Greek state that consistently collapses at times of crisis, about the deep state that is incapable of change and learning from its mistakes, that improvises and, as a result, messes up.
Greece is expected to receive multiple orders of extremely advanced weapons systems over the next few years: frigates, aircraft, drones and much more. You could call them the “Ferraris” of the defense industry. Such top-shelf equipment, however, also requires top-shelf infrastructure, professional handling, skilled staff with advanced knowledge and impeccable management. New-generation weapons need a new-generation system, staff and culture too.
Is Greece ready? Because if we don’t have the hangars for the cutting-edge fighter jets and the IT experts for the frigates, it will be like having a Lada garage looking after the Ferraris. Experience has shown us that we can spend billions of euros on procurements, but mess up when it comes to ensuring they bring the expected results. The Hellenic Aerospace Industry and its refurbishment of the Air Force’s C-130 transport planes is a case in point.
Thursday’s blast at Nea Anchialos is an absolute reflection of the usual shortcomings and oversights, the absence of professionalism and planning, the failings of some lazy grouch who couldn’t be bothered to look into whether the ammunition dump was protected given the terrible wildfires this summer has brought and the facility’s proximity to a residential area. These are the details that are regarded as useless in times of calm; but they are also the ones that can literally blow everything up in a crisis if they’re not addressed.
Let’s stop engaging in the national sport of complaining, though. Greece is anything but backward and it has officers and officials every country would be proud to have. The debacles we’re talking about are the result of arrogance, mismanagement and a lack of oversight in vital state services. It is up to us to stop such phenomena and take the dangers we face seriously. We must also understand that no matter how many jets, frigates and water-dropping aircraft we buy, they won’t be able to help when they need to if the weak link is not replaced; the stationmaster in Larissa, the guy who didn’t recharge the special forces’ batteries at Imia, and the people hiding behind the explosion at Nea Anchialos.
