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Greece - F-35

President John F. Kennedy appointed his brother Robert F. Kennedy as the 64th U.S. Attorney General in 1961. The New York Times lambasted the idea, explaining, “It is simply not good enough to name a bright young political manager…to a major post in the government.” Anticipating criticism, when asked by Ben Bradlee, a friendly journalist, how he would announce Robert as attorney general, John Kennedy replied: "Well, I think I’ll open the front door of the Georgetown house some morning about 2:00 A.M., look up and down the street, and, if there’s no one there, I’ll whisper, It’s Bobby.""

In classical Washington fashion, on Friday night, 26 January 2024, the US government sent the official notification to Congress for the simultaneous approval of the sale of new F-35 fighter jets to Greece and F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. It comes to an end in a diplomatic marathon that had lasted almost two years. It was preceded by the ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO by the Turkish Parliament, Biden's letter to Congress pressing for the acceptance of Ankara's request, and the signing of Sweden's accession protocol by President Erdogan.

The Government of Greece requested the purchase of up to forty (40) F-35A Joint Strike Fighter Conventional Takeoff and Landing (CTOL) aircraft and forty-two (42) Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines (40 installed, 2 spares). Also included are AN/PYQ-10 Simple Key Loaders, KGV-135A integrated secure communication devices. The estimated total cost is $8.6 billion.

Greece received the Foreign Military Sales Letter of Offer and Acceptance for the first 20 of 40 F-35As in July 2024. Final negotiations over what will be included in this contract will be conducted over the coming weeks, but it will be over $3 billion at minimum. The Government of Greece confirmed its intention to procure 20 F-35 Lightning II aircraft from Lockheed Martin by signing the Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), through the FMS process (Sale of Military Material), with the US government. The Letter of Offer & Acceptance (LOA) also includes as an option the supply of 20 additional aircraft.

"We are excited to welcome Greece to the F-35 Team," said Vice Admiral Mike Schmidt, Director and Executive Officer of the F-35 program at the Joint Program Office-JPO. "The F-35 will provide outstanding capabilities to the Hellenic Air Force, enhancing interoperability between our allies and strengthening the combat effectiveness of NATO forces as a whole." Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin Vice President and General Manager of the F-35 program said "For many decades, the Hellenic Air Force has been our partner and we are honored to continue that relationship as Greece becomes the 19th nation to join the F-35 program. The F-35 is the only fighter that has the ability to strengthen the sovereignty and at the same time the operational capabilities of Greece in operating with its allies".

For some time now, the leadership of the Greek Armed Forces, and especially the General Staff, seems to have decided that the F-35 will be the next Air Force fighter. And the original timetable seems to provide for the acquisition of the 5th generation of American fighters as soon as the 84 F-16 BLOCK 52 upgrade to VIPER is completed and the Block 50 to F-16 Block 52 M conversion is in progress.

Skeptics argue that at operational level, the F-35, despite being a high-tech fighter, is considered excessive for Greece's defense needs, namely intercepts and missiles that adequately cover the F-16 and MIRAGE 2000-5. Greek aviation is also active in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean theater of business, so the cost of transport and equipment is disproportionately high. Fully operationalizing the F-35's capabilities requires strategic depth as this fighter is a "first strike" aircraft, namely an air attack. But such a prospect is not seen as in line with the goals of the Hellenic Air Force, such as in Israeli aviation.

In May 2018 the US released the F-35 for sale to 5 countries, including Greece. Turkey had planned the purchase of 100 F-35s and another 24 for the mini take-off aircraft (it had not agreed to the latter), while five aircraft had been received and remain in the United States. However, the purchase of the S-400 and the shift to Russia imposed sanctions - at least at this stage - on the program by March 2020, and the training of US pilots and staff in these new fighters has also been halted.

The fifth-generation fighter is the most expensive today as the Russian Su-57 is valued at $ 55-60 million (but not yet in mass production) for over € 80 million for the F-35A, with cost per hour Flight exceeds 40,000 euros versus about 15,000 euros for the F-16 and 20,000 euros for the Mirage. However, it should be noted that other 4+ and 4 ++ fighters such as Rafale, Eurofifgter, Su-34, Su-35 also cost over € 20,000 per flight time. The US Pentagon has also asked Lockheed Martin to reduce unit purchasing costs, but mainly cost per hour flights to $ 25,000.

The first discussions with Greece on the issue of supplying F-35 advanced fighters began in February 2017, when the Greek Department of National Defense sent a letter to the US Pentagon to request information on the price and availability. This prospect, according to reports, was very remote, on the one hand because of budgetary constraints, on the other hand, because of the lack of infrastructure, but also on the cost of maintaining and operating such an aircraft. Informal discussions refer to one squadron, that is, 15-20 aircraft.

The head of the US Pentagon's F-35 service, Vice Adm. Mathias Winter, in April 2019 said in written testimony to the House Armed Services subcommittee on tactical and land forces that sales of 5th generation fighter jets could be made in the future to countries such as Greece, Spain, Romania, Singapore and Poland. The F-35 program is a top priority for the future of the US defense industry for decades to come, so Americans are looking for new investors to promote. Richard Aboulafia, vice president of the Teal Group, a Fairfax, Virginia-based defense and aerospace market analysis firm, the next round of FMS customers will really test the market for the F-35. “The real test [is selling to] the Polands and Greeces of the world,” he said.

The issue of the acquisition of the F-35s has not ruled out competent National Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos. "The F-35s are a 5th generation fighter plane and soon the acquisition of 5th generation air weapons systems will concern not only the Ministry of Defense, but the Greek government as a whole, as these decisions are taken by KYSEA," Nikos Papoulos said on 28 July 2019. It is recalled that a few months earlier his predecessor, Evangelos Apostolakis, who had these discussions with the American side, had in turn stated that "we, in addition to upgrading the 84 F-16s, are also in the process of choosing the a new plane that Greece will have, so that we can slowly enter the next generation of aircraft. "

According to a report by Real News, there is a rumor that Washington appeared ready to give up the first four F-35s destined for the Turkish air force in our country. According to Real News, the US side wanted to include Greece as a candidate country in the F-35 program, especially at a time when it was "orphaning" a post after Turkey's blockade. US sources argued that Ankara's withdrawal from the program is not as costly and complicated as the Turkish side maintained, as other countries could join the program and participate in cogeneration.

"If the fiscal conditions allow, we will seriously consider buying the F-35, because they are the most up-to-date and modern on the market." With this phrase at the established celebration lunch with reporters 30 December 2019, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis officially put on the table the issue of reinforcing Air Force with the 5th generation F-35 fighter jets. The Prime Minister's new reference to the F-35s within just 24 hours (preceding his interview on Sunday's Step), and the possibility of their acquisition, on the eve of his visit to Washington, suggested the issue will be one to discuss with US President Donald Trump.

The Minister of National Defence Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said in a January 2020 interview with OPEN that at some point Greece should proceed with the acquisition of 5th generation fighter jets. Asked if at the Trump-Mitsotakis meeting on January 7 Greece would be involved in the program, describing it as "likely", especially after Turkey's expulsion from the project due to the purchase of the Russian "S 400". "Then there may be a window of opportunity," said N. Panagiotopoulos.

In his remarks at the White House, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that Greece's interest in the F-35 is set after the completion of the F-16 upgrade, which it set for 2023-24, if and everyone knows based on the official timetable that the program is ideally completed in 2028. "Greece, Mr. President, is interested in participating in the F-35 program. As you already know, we are upgrading our F-16s and this program will be completed in 2023-24, so we are very much interested in joining the F-35 program after that, ” the Greek Prime Minister continued, speaking to Donald Trump.

"I am sure that the US will take into account the fact that Greece is coming out of an economic crisis so that the program can be structured in the best possible way for my country," he added. Of course, no one knows where the information from K. Mitsotakis came from is that the F-16 program will be completed in 2023-24 as the most optimistic forecasts speak of 2027.

Prime Minister K. Mitsotakis essentially ruled out any consideration for the supply of 5th Generation F-35A fighters, at a time when their supply would essentially ensure the return of the Averov doctrine of "quality over quantity" in relation to the Turkish threat. Speaking to the Atlantic Council, a US-based think-tank, the prime minister said on the F-35 issue: "We will be exploring the possibility of buying F-35 fighter aircraft, but obviously we are not yet in the financial position to make such defense investments." This simply means that the issue of acquiring a new fighter is postponed to the end of the decade, with the completion of the F-16 upgrade program, which was the original design.

For the Greek staff, however, the main concern at this juncture is not the F-35 but the launch of the F-16 modernization program, and above all, the increase in the availability of all the flying means available to the Air Force.

As of December 2020, Greece was immediately requesting six aircraft in the new year, with availability being a big question. Greece will be called upon to absorb know-how for two types of aircraft with a completely new logic (training, different philosophy, new infrastructure) and at the same time has the challenge of modernizing the F-16s. In terms of funding, Greece wants to take advantage of the favorable situation due to the lifting of European funding restrictions due to COVID to finance the armaments program.