The State Aircraft Factory of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, official name Hellenic Air Force Aircraft Depot, usually known through the acronym KEA ( el, Κρατικό Εργοστάσιο Αεροπλάνων), originally founded as EAF (, "Phaliron Aircraft Factory"), is the oldest and most historic Greek aircraft manufacturer. It is a military unit subordinate to the

Hellenic Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 8 November , equipment = , equipment_label ...

Support Command (HAFSC) and since 2012 it is located at

Elefsis Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest from the centre of Athens and is part of i ...

Air Base.

History

The decision to establish an aircraft manufacturing company was taken in 1917, but the

wars War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

that followed delayed its foundation until 1925. It was based in

Phaliron Phalerum or Phaleron ( ''()'', ; ''()'', ) was a port of Ancient Athens, 5 km southwest of the Acropolis of Athens, on a bay of the Saronic Gulf. The bay is also referred to as "Bay of Phalerum" ( el, Όρμος Φαλήρου '').'' The ...

near

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

(the same area where the

AEKKEA-RAAB The history of AEKKEA (''Anonymos Etaireia Kataskevis Kai Ekmetallefseos Aeroplanon'' - ''Societe Anonyme Pour la Fabrication et l'Exploitation des Avions Raab''), an aircraft maker based in Greece, is connected with the history of a talented Ger ...

aircraft maker was later headquartered) and technology and initial management were provided by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Blackburn Aircraft Limited Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north- ...

, a company selected as a partner by the Greek military. The first type produced by the factory was the T3 Velos, designed by the British company. KEA Chelidon

In 1927 an all-Greek EAF design was introduced (although according to other sources, a British engineer was a part of the design team), the

Chelidon Chelidon (fl. 74 BC) was a Roman courtesan, famed for her influence during the praetorship of Gaius Verres. She was a freedwoman and a successful professional high class courtesan. She was introduced to Gaius Verres by the courtesan Pippa and Ter ...

(Swallow) multi-purpose military aircraft. It used a Salmson 120 hp engine and had a maximum speed of 150 km/h. However, only one was built for the Greek Navy, as it was considered inferior to alternative types. Later, the factory produced a series of aircraft types under license, including numbers of

Avro 504 The Avro 504 was a First World War biplane aircraft made by the Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during the war totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind tha ...

aircraft (504N and 504O models), a version of the

Armstrong Whitworth Atlas The Armstrong Whitworth Atlas was a British single-engine biplane designed and built by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. It served as an army co-operation aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the 1920s and 1930s. It was the first purpose-desi ...

(featuring certain modifications from the original

Armstrong-Whitworth Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...

model) and the Avro 621 Tutor. At least 61 Tutors were produced, with a rate of seven per month in early 1940, as part of Greece's preparations after the outbreak of World War II. The company had been fully nationalized since January 1938, when the name ''KEA'' was officially used. Preparations for the production of the

PZL P.24 The PZL P.24 was a Polish fighter aircraft, designed during the mid-1930s in the PZL factory in Warsaw. It was developed as a dedicated export version of the PZL P.11, a gull wing all-metal fighter designed by Polish aeronautical engineer Zygmun ...

, the main fighter used by the

Greek Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 8 November , equipment = , equipment_label ...

at the time, as well as the Henschel Hs 126K-6 light bomber (for which an order of 90 units had been made to KEA) were never completed due to the outbreak of the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

in October 1940. Thus, the only KEA-produced type that saw action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was the 621 Tutor (in addition to training, a number was incorporated in combat squadrons as liaison aircraft). Production also covered other areas, including refitting captured aircraft, manufacturing bombs, and specialized parts and tools. During Greece's occupation by the Axis powers the KEA facilities were used by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

for technical support, while airport infrastructure, where some of its facilities were located, became targets of Allied bombing. After the war, KEA divisions produced a number of gliders but it eventually focused on maintenance work for the Greek Air Force with only limited construction activity - which went to the

Hellenic Aerospace Industry Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI) ( el, Ελληνική Αεροπορική Βιομηχανία - ΕΑΒ) is the leading aerospace company of Greece. The company headquarters is located in Tanagra, 65 kilometers north-west of Athens, with the ...

(HAI) when the latter was founded. Nonetheless, KEA has produced since the 1990s a number of

Pegasus Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

s, developed by HAI and a Greek State Research Institute. The historic company survives until today and is under direct Greek military command.

Aircraft types produced

''(Years in parentheses indicate starting of production)'' *'' EAF Blackburn T.3/T.3A Velos'' (1926). Reconnaissance, training, bomber, designed by Blackburn. 12 built. *'' EAF Chelidon'' (1927). Trainer, surveillance, developed in Greece. 1 built (out of 18 initially ordered). *''EAF Atlas'' (1931). A lower-cost derivative of the

army co-operation aircraft, with changes in wing structure, engine and propeller. Proven inferior to the original, 10 built. *'' EAF Avro 504'' (1934). Trainer (''N'' and ''O'' versions). Unknown number built. *''Zoegling'' glider (1937). 4 built. *'' KEA Avro 621'' (1938). Trainer and (during World War II) liaison aircraft. At least 61 built. *''Vrona2'' glider (1939). 10 built. * ''Schneider SG-38'' glider (1953). 3 built. *''Cavka'' glider (1958). 10 built. *'' E1-79 Pegasus'' (small number produced in the 1990s). UAV designed by

and Hellenic Air Force Research Institute, introduced in 1982. *'' Pegasus II'' (2005). UAV, improved version of Pegasus. 16 units built (or under construction) to date.

Footnotes

References

* Jane's "All the World's Aircraft" (1928 edition)
L.S. Skartsis, "Greek Vehicle & Machine Manufacturers 1800 to present: A Pictorial History", Marathon (2012)
(eBook)
Official Hellenic Air Force site (info about KEA)

{{DEFAULTSORT:State Aircraft Factory (Greece) Aircraft manufacturers of Greece Defence companies of Greece Hellenic Air Force Government-owned companies of Greece Greek companies established in 1925 Manufacturing companies established in 1925