Does Greece screw France on frigates? Maybe not, but …
The United States approved a large military supply to Greece, offering four new frigates and a major modernization package worth $ 9.4 billion, directly challenging a similar preliminary agreement with France.
The U.S. Department of State said it approved potential deals on Friday, announcing the offer of several Multi-Mission Surface Combatant (MMSC) ships as well as a separate $ 2.5 billion plan to modernize the class frigates. MEKO of Greece.
"This sale proposition will support US foreign policy and national security goals, helping to improve the security of a NATO ally, which is an important partner for political stability and economic progress in Europe," said the l Defense Cooperation and Security Agency.
If executed, the scheme to upgrade Greece's frigate fleet would include the installation of a number of new systems, such as new five-inch artillery guns and upgraded sonars. Arms dealers Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, the UK's VSE Corporation and BAE Systems would serve as primary contractors. Practically the Anglophone sphere is eating the Greek navy, in spite of the EU industry ..
The announced proposal comes after France said in September that it reached a similar agreement with Greece to supply up to four new frigates for $ 3.4 billion (€ 3 billion). It would have been the FREMM frigates built in collaboration with Fincantieri.
At the time, however, French military spokesman Herve Grandjean said that although some commitments had been made, no formal contract had yet been signed between the two parties. He added that the deal will be finalized after a three-month period, a deadline that is expected to mature in the coming weeks.
While it is not yet clear what the US proposal for the deal with France will mean, the move could be interpreted as a serious offense by Washington that is taking away the military orders from Paris. After all, a few months ago, the US and UK took over the supply of nuclear submarines to Australia, canceling an equivalent supply, but diesel, which France thought it had already bought. Billions of euros of canceled jobs.
Two weeks after the AUKUS bombing, Macron took the stage with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to personally announce the sale of French warships to Athens, saying it was time to "stop being naive" while touting the deal as a sign of "Europe's strategic autonomy and sovereignty." Instead, you risk seeing Greece making purchases in the US and UK, just like Australia did. France will be left with a handful of flies. Now Greece has confirmed , just today, the supply of three FREMM frigates purchased from Paris, but another 4 have been taken in the US and the situation of direct competition between the two countries is evident. With the difference that Washington's political weight is quite different.
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The article Does Greece screw France on frigates? Maybe not, but… it comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-grecia-frega-la-francia-sulle-fregate/ on Sat, 11 Dec 2021 16:04:19 +0000.