Mirage © Dominik Kanz
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Tanagra Air Force Base
Tanagra Air Force Base, located north of Athens, is one of the HAF’ s most historic and strategically important installations. Established in the early Cold War as Greece entered NATO and transitioned from piston aircraft to jets, Tanagra quickly became a major fighter hub due to its flat terrain and proximity to the capital. Early aircraft such as the F‐84G Thunderjet and F‐84F Thunderstreak formed Greece’ s first NATO‐standard jet wings and established Tanagra as a center for training, modernization, and air policing.
In the 1960s, the arrival of the F‐104G Starfighter marked a new era. Its supersonic performance and demanding handling shaped Tanagra’ s oper-
© John Lekkas
© Steve Grimshaw
ational culture and made the base one of Greece’ s primary quick‐reaction and high‐altitude interception centers through the 1980s. A defining transformation came in 1988 with the introduction of the Mirage 2000EG / BG. These delta‐wing fighters brought advanced radar, modern missiles, and high agility, forging a lasting partnership with France. Mirage squadrons 331“ Thiseas” and 332“ Geraki” conducted numerous quick‐reaction alerts over the Aegean throughout the 1990s and 2000s, excelling in the region’ s challenging airspace. In the 2000s, the upgrade to the Mirage 2000‐5
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