Kotroni, center of the Hellenic Naval Rotary Force

Not far from Athens you can find the main helicopter base of the Greek navy, Kotroni, situated at a hilltop with distance views to Aegean sea and in close vicinity to some historical greek gods temples you can see daily flight activity of the navy rotors.

- Peter ten Berg

When driving uphill nothing indicates you are entering a naval facility, until you pass the on-base roundabout, with a large anchor and small vessel on display in the middle.

Down below Kotroni hilltop lays Marathon, the town where according the old stories the 42 km run found its origin after an by Athens won battle somewhere 490 BC. Although the grounds are inspiring out of historical believe, the Greek navy had allegedly other considerations when it decided to construct a new naval air arms facility, as previous base of Amphiali-Athens had become too small. The naval helicopter fleet was growing and the isolated Kotroni hilltop was ideally located to house the unit for the coming future. Close to seaside for easy Greek Navy Frigate ship access and not too far away from naval headquarters in Athens, Kotroni was also for Greece centrally located and therefore ideal to reach all countries detachment locations.

After becoming operational in 1986, Kotroni Naval Air Station received the latest navy asset from Amphiali, the AB-212 for which a Naval Aviation school was founded to train crews on this new type. The unit, divided into 2 flights, operated also some Alouette III’s. A few years later, in 1996, another new type entered the Greek Navy, when deliveries started of S-70B-6 “Aegean Hawk” helicopters to Kotroni.

Some years ago, in 2013, the Alouette III’s were taken out of service, but the AB-212 and S-70B choppers remain as the backbone of Greek Naval Aviation which form 2 squadrons at Kotroni, 1 and 2 MEN. The base is also hosting a Greek Helicopter Coast Guard unit flying several SA-365 Dauphin.