Will Greece receive the F-35?
According to Greek media, the Greek Department of Defence is reported to have sent an official Letter of Request (LOR) to the US Government requesting the participation of the Elliniki Polemiki Aeroporia (EPA, Hellenic Air Force) in the F-35A Lightning II programme.
To quote Greek media outlet Ekathimerini: “According to sources familiar with the matter, Defence Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos already has a proposal ready for the US for the acquisition of six fifth-generation F-35As, with few flight hours, which could even be delivered to Greece within 2021. Athens will implement the plan to acquire eighteen more new aircraft of this type in due course, so that the HAF will end up with a total of 24 F-35s.”
The decision to enter in the F-35 programme will be based on a variety of factors such as the fighter delivery schedule, the repayment plan, the configuration of the aircraft and a possible combination to obtain a total of 18 to 24 jets (factory new or second-hand USAF aircraft, if available).
As reported by Scramble News in January 2020, the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid an official visit to the White House in which the Greek Defence Minister revealed Greece’s armament plans that included 24 F-35As, including all required infrastructure, weapons, training and logistical support at a price of USD 3 billion. During that visit they also stressed that they wanted to proceed with the upgrade of over eighty F-16C/D Fighting Falcons, as well as the purchase of war ships and other war material.
With the possible acquisition of a squadron of 18-24 F-35As, along with the purchase of eighteen French Rafales, the Greek government seeks to offset the balance of power with Turkey. As the Russian S-400 surface to air missile system procured by the Turks can create problems for the EPA, Athens is moving fast to acquire F-35s stealth fighters, in combination with the purchase of the Rafales of which first deliveries are expected from the beginning of 2021 at a rate of one every month.
However, the real issue for the Greek government will be the funding of the extremely expensive F-35A. Scramble Magazine assesses that the US and Greece may find a creative solution. An affordable government-to-government loan to cover the US Foreign Military Sales programme and/or in combination with European Union funding. It is also very well possible that Greece will offer the US infrastructure usages like air bases (as a replacement for the US installations at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey), naval harbours, including relocation of the US controlled nuclear weapon storage that currently is said to be located at Incirlik, all this in return for the delivery of F-35s. Crete is being named as one of the possible alternative locations of the Incirlik-based capabilities.
Getting a seat in the F-35A programme will not be a walk in the park for Greece, however. To start with, Greece will have to negotiate about slots in the Lockheed Martin production lines, when new aircraft are required. Many other customers have ordered their aircraft already and expect them to be delivered on time. Since Greece has the wish for a quick delivery, the option for delivering second-hand (early production?) USAF Lightning IIs is kept open.
This also opens up the possibility to have the F-35As that were destined for Turkey delivered to Greece instead. Furthermore, Greece and the US must negotiate everything that surrounds the participation in the F-35A programme like security, infrastructure, support and logistics. Current F-35 operators all faced these barriers and often needed years to meet the required levels of certification before any delivery could commence.
Photo: Robert Flinzner (Scramble Magazine Archive)