Hellenic Air Force retires A-7 Corsair II from service

The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) held a decommissioning ceremony for its A-7 Corsair II aircraft at Araxos Air Base, home of the 116 Combat Wing, on 17 October.
The world's last operator of the A-7 Corsair II, 336 Squadron, decommissioned 15 A-7E and two TA-7C aircraft at the event.
The HAF acquired 60 A-7Hs and five TA-7Hs from LTV between 1975-1980 and then 50 A-7Es and 18 TA-7Cs from the US Navy's inventory after the first Gulf War, which arrived in country in 1993-1994. Greece's total fleet of 133 Corsair IIs then made it the largest international operator of the type, which was retired from US Navy service in 1993 but also operated by Portugal and Thailand.
The A-7 Corsair II saw service in five HAF squadrons, marking in total 355,000 missions and 440,000 flight hours. Thirteen pilots were also lost in flight accidents involving the type.
336 Squadron, the HAF's second-oldest squadron, is scheduled to receive half of the co-located 335 Squadron's Lochkheed Martin F-16 Block 52+ Advanced aircraft, thus continuing its operations.
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