Greece poised to sell some of its F-16 fighters to Bulgaria

Greece is in talks with the US and Bulgaria about selling some of its old F-16 fighter jets to Sofia and leasing new ones from Washington, Kathimerini understands.

NATO asked Bulgaria in February to update its air force’s capability and the country’s defense officials have approached Athens about the possibility of buying between six and eight Fighting Falcon planes, sources said. The issue was first discussed when the country’s two defense ministers met in March.

Athens has approached Washington with regard to this issue and has received a positive response.

There is a precedent for such a deal as Portugal sold 12 of its F-16s to Romania for 880 million dollars in October 2013. Sources said the Hellenic Air Force would like the jets sold to be replaced by Block 52s but the US does not want to lease these airplanes.