After the Rafale, Greece is also targeting the F-35s
After the Rafales from France, Greece asked the United States to purchase 18 to 24 F-35 fighters to enhance its defense capabilities in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean
Athens intends to join Lockheed Martin's JSF program.
Following Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' decision to purchase 18 French Rafale fighters, Greece officially asked Washington to buy the fifth-generation F-35 fighter immediately.
As the Greek media reported, Theodoros Lagios, director general of armaments and investments has asked to purchase 18 to 24 Lockheed Martin F-35s.
Already at the beginning of the year, the Athens government had expressed interest in the aircraft , planning to upgrade its fleet of F-16s.
The news comes after Greece 's decision to buy 18 Rafale fighters from France two months ago .
The goal is to regain air superiority over neighboring (and rival) Turkey. Greece is trying to strengthen its defenses and improve cooperation with its NATO American partner after political and military tensions with Turkey have intensified over territorial rights in the Aegean Sea and oil and gas exploration via ship by Turkish research Oruc Reis.
All the details.
THE LETTER FROM THE GREEK ARMAMENTS DIRECTION
The Athens Department of Defense's official letter of request (Lor) was sent to the US government on November 6, media reports.
"The decision to enter the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program will be based on a number of factors such as the fighter delivery schedule, the reimbursement schedule, the aircraft configuration and a possible combination to achieve a total of 18 to 24 aircraft. ”, Reads the letter cited by the reports.
“Due to internal tax agreements and other rules applicable in the framework of the EU budget and deficit, it is essential that the first F-35s are delivered in 2021,” Lagios underlines in the letter. “For our part, we will do everything possible to implement this ambitious program,” concludes the letter.
ALREADY PURCHASED THE FRENCH RAFALAS
Meanwhile, Athens has already announced in mid-September that it will purchase 18 Rafales from Paris to upgrade its military facility. "Precisely in order to achieve this objective, Greece will purchase eighteen French Rafale, four multi-mission frigates and four Romeo helicopters for the Navy, as well as making huge investments in the war sector and cybersecurity" specified Giuseppe Gagliano on Start .
The Rafale was developed for the French Navy and Air Force by Dassault Aviation.
"At the moment, in particular the Rafale, very versatile aircraft, could make the difference with the Turkish equipment: Ankara, after giving up the F-35, has above all the F-16s, also common to the Greek military aviation", he commented on Start Pietro Romano.
THE QUESTION OF THE TURKISH F-35
In fact, we recall that in July 2019 Turkey was excluded from the United States from the F-35 program after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan bought Russian S-400 missile defense systems. At that juncture, the Trump administration announced that Turkish companies will be excluded from the program's supply chain starting in March 2020. The United States claims the system could be used by Russia to secretly obtain classified details about the fighter-bomber and is incompatible. with NATO systems.
Turkey, however, argued that the S-400 would not be integrated into NATO systems and would not pose a threat to the alliance. Therefore, Ankara has defined the US decision to exclude it from the stealth fighter program which provided for the purchase of 100 F-35s, 2 of which have already been delivered, "unfair".
THE GREEK STRATEGY
According to the Greek media, Greece's attempt to purchase F-35s is also a response to Turkey having S-400 missile systems from Russia.
With the imminent acquisition of a squadron of 18-24 fifth generation F-35 fighters, along with the purchase of 18 Rafale fighters, the Greek government seeks to offset the balance of power with Ankara.
As the Russian S-400 anti-aircraft system procured by the Turks can create problems for the Greek military aviation, Athens is moving quickly to acquire the F-35 stealth aircraft as well.
France is expected to start delivering Rafale fighters to the Greek Air Force from early 2021 at the rate of one per month.
All that remains is to wait for Washington's response.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/dopo-i-rafale-la-grecia-punta-anche-agli-f-35/ on Wed, 18 Nov 2020 05:57:24 +0000.