F-35 purchase is OK’d
Program will take years to complete; installation upgrades are needed
The Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) approved on Tuesday the purchase of 20 F-35 advanced multirole aircraft from the United States, as well as several other procurement programs.
The decision was a formality, after Parliament approved the acquisition late last month, but it set in motion the implementation of what is, perhaps, Greece’s most consequential weapons acquisition, a process which is expected to last several years and will cost, initially, $3.54 billion.
Approval by KYSEA will be followed by the signing of the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), which the US government submitted in April. Greece has until the end of July to sign this document, which is the legal equivalent of a contract.
Before the first Hellenic Air Force (HAF) pilots travel to the US to be trained on the F-35, something that will not happen before 2028, at the earliest, Greece must upgrade the installations of the 117th Combat Wing in Andravida, in the western Peloponnese. Given that the 117th Wing currently serves as the base for the F-4 Phantom fighters, a plane that the HAF has been operating for over half a century, the upgrade is considerable: the F-4 is three or four generations of aircraft older and ages away in technology. At this point, the success of the conversion of the installations is not a given: the Rafale fighters acquired from France are stationed in installations that do not satisfy all the technical requirements.
KYSEA also approved the acquisition of three unmanned helicopters, which will be stationed in the three new frigates Greece will acquire in 2025 and 2026. In addition, participants discussed cybersecurity, migration and civil protection in the face of increasing risk of wildfires.
