I totally agree lol.

Yes, I agree, I would invest in a Super Tucano or something like Yak-130 anytime over a Mi-35M. Arm a Super Tucano with something like LITENING/SAPSAN(1 hardpoint) and you got 4 hardpoints left for Brimstones/SDBs/Hermes/JCM/KAB-250 and such. The Yak-130 could be used as a light point defense fighter also if given Kopyo and R-77 and such, and could even take other roles with Kh-31P and Kh-35/Kh-31A.

Sorry you do not understand the simple fact. You can view and pic up an arial target by other means and call it net-centric. Your guidance problem is still there. The highest pic of Rhodes is 1215 metre, when the Taurus mountains are more than double that height.
The number of SAM-systems in a given area (Rhodes) is still limited, when the number of aircraft attacking this cluster can be choosen by attacker. The attacker can even ignore the relative small danger zone (at low level) and fly around. The SAM-system have to be at a constant high alert. Having to wait if an enemy will show up hopefully in the firing envelope. If the enemy is not cooperative to do so, a lot of high-grade personal and expensive equipment becomes useless. A fighter is not bound to a SEAD-mission. It can fly many others and you have the opportunity to choose the area, where you like to have the local air superiority. Air power is a fist you can use where and when you are in need of it.

But when you know it has to be there, they will have to be there. The point is to provide Air Defense, it’s not just for nothing lol. A 400km radius is a LOT of area and for example where I can choose to place the systems as for example Crete or the other island between Crete or Rhodes, the TuAF fighters are BOUND to fly in that circle, they just can’t skip it, they will be forced to fly strikes, provide TuN with Air Support, try and shoot down HAF fighters flying over to Cyprus, they will have to be THERE. And of course, these SAMs will be on a high threat during the wartime, it’s war.

Flying low in between islands and mountains will not be that simple either considering how many SHORADS and MANPADS Greece has, why do you think NATO didn’t go down low? It’s because of all the low level Serbian SAMs and MANPADS, and they stayed up high to avoid this. In the case of S-300PMU2 or S-400, staying high is not any safer.

BTW wouldn’t be other ships and/or AWACS be able to guide the S-400 missiles?

1. There is something like the line of sight and curvature of earth.
2. Below 100 feet the radar SAM guideance becomes useless. Earth/Sea = reflection = clutter overcomes discrimination power of radar. A fighter can go that low over sea. It can use ECM to enhance this. So at a given distance/height there is no guideance against fighter-sized target at all.
3. The Taurus mountains near-by have a similar effect (radar-shadow).
4. International airways are crossing over Rhodes and near Cyprus and shipping at sea.
5. Turkey is just 20 km/11 nm from Rhodes. Not a secure distance for a Harpy system or something similar. A strong jamming unit at coast will reduce the SAM-system too.
6. The southern part of Cyprus is now a member of EU, when the northern part will be in the future.
7. If Greece will intervene in Cyprus it will come into trouble with the EU.
8. All parties agreed, that the final solution about Cyprus is observed by the UN and the EU will follow.

1, 2, 3. Yahhh, though radars placed on top of the mountains, ships, AWACS can fix this to give it a good radar picture of the area. All Net Centric.
4. Of course, during war noone will be stupid enough to do it considering there will be massive aerial and naval battles, I fail to see how this proves any of your points regarding SAMs
5. Ok then, place it somewhere else, theres the island between Crete and Rhodes, theres Crete itself, and tons of other Islands in teh Greek Aegean.
6, 7, 8. We’re not discussing the political issues here, we’re discussing the military ones.

I may have underestimated the closness of Rhodes and such to Turkey, which I guess would put it in radius of Turkish artillery and heavy jamming probably. Though there Greece can put some TORs, ASRADs or anything thats fully mobile and autonomous that will not have to move every 5 secs to avoid Turkish artillery.

That is the reason why national air-policing is still done by fighters and not handed to SAMs.

Noone ever suggested giving it to SAMs.

To bring your SAMs into use, you have to declare a national emergency and an international note about a no fly-zone.
If Greece declared something in advance it will disrupt international airways and sea-lanes. A good example is the NATO rocket/SAM firing range in the west of Crete.

In wartime, this WILL have to be done whether SAMs are deployed or not because like I said it will be WAR, and there will be aerial and naval battles and to some extent land battles, there will be no civilian ships or planes going through, rather than all the way around the battlefield.

At first such system will create an international uproar and bring Greece into real trouble.

How? Cuz they deployed SAMs to give them accurate coverage.

As for the “stealthy” aircraft being problematic, well Turkey will not receive those before 2015 when the F-35 will probably reach Allied Airforces, before then nothing. As after that time, those will pose a threat against M2K and F-16 and just about everything, does that mean we should scrap them? No. In the future, I think there will be radars, aerial, and surface ones and strong capable of detecting LO aircraft at longer distances.

I would still pit a S-400 against an F-35 than send M2Ks or F-16s against it. At least the F-35 will have a MUCH harder time sneaking in through a SAM zone, and the SAMs will have a much better chance of detecting them earlier than a fighter ever would.

Anyways, AWACS, Ships and other SAMs could establish the radar picture, and then you have SAMs, Fighters, Subs, Surface Vessels and such.

The thing is, in the Mediterreanean sea, between Crete and Cyprus, Turkey will be trying to put up a Naval Blockade and it will have support of the TuAF, however if you have Greek SAMS there and then providing valuable Air Defense and then Greek fighters and such.

I just thought of something too, having Coastal Anti-Shipping Missiles like Yakhont or Brahmos which have soime 300km range. These could be placed around Crete or that other island between Rhodes and Crete and give the Greek Navy pretty long targeting coverage, probably about half way between Crete and Cyprus. OF course this would need external sources for targeting like of course other ships, AWACS, fighters and whatever.

So in the future something like KC-130Js, S-400s, Yakhont/Brahmos Coastal Launchers and such. Of course, Turkey could go shopping for the same things.