Blinken’s visit to Greece: The agenda
Arms procurements are expected to be an important part of the agenda of talks between US Secretary Antony Blinken and Greek officials Saturday.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will host Blinken at his house in Hania, Crete, where the two will meet one-on-one. This will be followed by an enlarged meeting, to be also attended by Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou, Mitsotakis’ top diplomatic advisor Ambassador Anna-Maria Boura and the PM’s special advisor on international policy and public diplomacy Aristotelia Peloni.
Kathimerini understands that the two sides will not go into detail regarding the manner and timing of the arms sales, but rather confine themselves to a general overview of the issue and specifically, the sale to Greece of the advanced multi-role F-35 combat aircraft and the Blackhawk helicopters, where the sale procedure is at an advanced stage.
The private Mitsotakis-Blinken meeting is expected to focus on the Middle East conflict and the danger of it spreading, as well as on the latest developments in Ukraine and the overall Greek-US defense cooperation.
Waiting for the LOA on the F-35s
It’s been 18 months since Greece has asked to buy 20 F-35s, with an option for another 20, and it is still waiting for an answer, despite assurances that approval would be swift and would take place in 2023. Meanwhile, Germany and South Korea have got Congress approval for the sale.
It is possible that Blinken’s visit to Turkey and the haggling involving Sweden’s accession to NATO and the F-16 sale could spark developments in the Greek demand for F-35s. But, even if the sale is approved, the road to signing the sale contract will be long. The arrival of the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA) will mean the start of negotiations concerning the exact number of planes and the conditions of the sale.
Negotiations will also involve the security infrastructure and the upgrade of the 117 Combat Wing in Andravida, in the Western Greece region, where the F-35s will be stationed starting in early 2028, if the deal goes through. Kathimerini understands that Greece has rejected F-35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin’s proposal to undertake the infrastructure upgrade through security, supply and information programs (SSI) because the cost would exceed €700 million while the acquisition of a wing of F-35s (20 aircraft) would be nearly €4 billion.
The issue of SSIs is critical for the Pentagon since it is the most common method of transferring know-how, which, in the case of the F-35, includes cybersecurity and network security.
On the other hand, the LOA on the acquisition of UH-60M Blackhawk helicopters has just arrived, about a couple of weeks after the State Department gave the green light.
The LOA concerns the acquisition of 35 helicopters for the Army Air Force that will replace the aging UH-1 Hueys. The LOLA refers to a cost of nearly $1.2 billion, but the final cost is expected to be lower, about $24 million per unit.
