The Hellenic Army began receiving officially M1117 Armoured Security Vehicles (ASV) at 301 Military Base Factory in Agioi Anargyroi near Athens. The first batch is part of a total of 60 stationed in Germany. They were sent to Greece by rail. The vehicles are equipped with a 12.7mm machine gun and a 40mm calibre grenade launcher.
The U.S. and Greece have concluded an intergovernmental agreement on the transfer of 1,200 M1117 ASV Guardian (4x4) wheeled armoured vehicles from the US Department of Defence to Greece through the US program of intergovernmental foreign military sales (FMS).
In 2019, a preliminary deal was reached to transfer vehicles from the United States Army to Greece.
The first batch of 800 M1117 cars was anticipated to be delivered to Greece in March 2020, then in the fall of 2020; however, in the end, the final agreement was reached to begin delivery in 2021.
The delivery of M1117 armoured vehicles to Greece will be made free of charge under the U.S. Department of Defence’s Excess defence Articles (EDA) program to sell excess military equipment. At the same time, by accepted practice, the Greek side pays for the de-conservation, repair, training, retrofitting and transportation of equipment, and training of personnel.
Textron Corporation produced the 14-ton armoured vehicle M1117 Guardian with a 4x4 wheel formula, originally developed for the American military police. In the 2000s, the U.S. army purchased " light Ersatz MRAP " for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan instead of HMMWV cars. In total, the US Army purchased 2,058 units plus 844 M1200 advanced aircraft manufacturers based on them.
The majority of the surplus M1117 computers have been relocated to storage, and they are now transported to Greece.
In 2020, a similar deal was signed on delivering 350 M2A2 Bradley infantry combat vehicles from the US Army and National Guard to Greece under the EDA program via the FMS mechanism.
U.S. army applies chemicals to store vehicles to “conserve” them for a long time. To start using such vehicles, a chemical process must be applied to “de-conserve” vehicles.
A second batch of M1117 ASVs will be shipped from the United States to Greece. A total of 1,200 vehicles are being examined by Hellenic Army personnel, with around half of them anticipated to be allowed into Greece.
