Greece to Rafales in two weeks, F-35 to follow?
The necessary preparations are well under way at 114 Pteriga Machis (114th Combat Wing) at Tanágra air base where, if everything goes to plan, the first six Dassault Rafale DG/EG multi-role fighters will arrive on 19 January 2022.
The two Rafale DG dual seat and four Rafale EG single seat variant will be operated by 332 MPK (Mira Pantos Kerou = All Weather Squadron) nicknamed Geraki (Hawk) that is currently operating the Dassault Mirage 2000EG/BG. The squadron will have its Mirage 2000s retired by mid-2022, after 34 years of service.
In January 2021, the Elleniki Polemiki Aeroporia (EPA, Hellenic Air Force) ordered twelve former Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace (AAE, French Air and Space Force) Dassault Rafales and six factory-new ones. In September 2021, prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced that six additional Rafales were ordered, making the total order 24.
While on the subject of introducing new fighters in the EPA: during the US Congress National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) meeting for Fiscal Year 2022, the delivery of the F-35A Lightning II to Greece was approved. The literal text is: “It is the sense of Congress that the President has the authority to expedite delivery of any future F-35 aircraft to Greece once Greece is prepared to move forward with such a purchase on such terms and conditions as the President may require, pursuant to the certification requirements under section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act”.
The NDAA contains the United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the US Department of Defence (DoD), so this opens the doors for Greece to acquire this fifth-generation fighter.
As far back as January 2020, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos revealed Greece’s interest in the acquisition of 24 F-35A Lightning II aircraft. Back then, this arms transfer was not officially approved but now the doors to the F-35 consortium are wide open for Greece.
The delivery of the F-35A, in combination with the already running upgrade of 84 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D to the F-16V standard and the delivery of the Rafale fighters, would send the EPA straight into the top of the NATO forces, capability-wise.
Photos by Swiderek Maciejka and Marco Dijkshoorn (Mirage 2000)