A nine-member team from the Greek Army General Staff has flown to the United States to examine used American tanks which Greece could buy to renew its fleet of armored vehicles, Kathimerini understands.

The army experts are inspecting some 1,000 used M1A1 Abrams tanks with a view to selecting 400 that Greece could purchase from the US Army. Sources said that Greece had made a request to purchase some of this stock of tanks last year but Washington turned it down. But the US now seems in favor of a deal. The experts will have to make a recommendation to the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) on whether Athens should proceed with the agreement or not.

A potential deal was reported in October, prompting some commentators to wonder why debt-ridden Greece would be making such a purchase now. The cost of buying the tanks is not yet known but it is thought that it would cost about 5 million euros to transport them to Greece.