Videos and reports about a Greek warship that has effectively protected commercial ships in the Red Sea area, as part of the EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, are flooding the press and social media this month. This warship is none other than the Hellenic Navy Hydra-class (MEKO 200HN) frigate Psara, which, despite its age and condition (having undergone only minimal upgrades or changes), seems to meet threats without even using a single one of its valuable and expensive RIM-162 ESSM Block 1 surface-to-air missiles (SAM) (Hydra-class frigates carry 16 x ESSM in their Mk48 Mod 5 VLS), relying only on its Mk45 Mod2A 127mm gun and a Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) system installed shortly before departure. The recently revealed system is called Centaur, a product of Greek design and development, specifically by Greece’s largest state defense industry, the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), which developed it with its own resources. My story for Naval News, here.
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