Speaking to the Greek magazine Ptisi & Diastima, the American ambassador in Greece Geoffrey R. Pyatt stated that the purchase of the F-35 by Athens is certain. He says that the willingness to buy the stealth fighters is already known by entities of the Greek and American governments.
Pyatt, who has already flown an F-16 fighter, said that a delegation of US Air Force personnel from the F-35 office is expected to go to Athens to inform the Greek government about the requirements to go ahead with ing the program. of the F-35.
Greece has acquired 18 Dassault Rafale fighter jets – having received the first six units in January – and opted to buy six more units. In parallel, Athens is already committed to upgrading 83 of its 153 F-16C/D Fighting Falcon fighters to Block 70 standard.
With the addition of the F-35 to the fleet, something the US takes for granted, the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) would become one of the strongest in that region.
“Let me start with the most important point, which is that Greece will be part of the F-35 program. I think this is clearly understood by the [Greek] government, by the Hellenic Air Force, but also by the US government. You have heard expressions to that effect not only from me, but from senior State Department officials as well.”, said Ambassador Pyatt when asked about the F-35 for Greece.
The Greek interest in hunting is nothing new. Athens revealed its intention to acquire the F-35 in 2019, saying it would be a replacement for its older F-16s and veteran F-4E Phantom IIs. In 2020, during a visit by then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, it was revealed that governments discussed selling up to 24 F-35s to Greece.
The recent choice of the F-35 by the Finnish and Swiss governments should reduce the price of the fighter. It is estimated that starting this year, the F-35A will have an acquisition cost of US$ 77,9 million.
Pyatt points out that between the g of the offer acceptance letter and the delivery of the first aircraft, there is a period of approximately five years. Within this time, several steps take place, such as adapting the infrastructure to receive the planes, manufacturing the fighters, training pilots and mechanics in the US, and building the security envelope.
“This is all going to happen. Timing is something that will be determined by Greek budgetary factors. But it is significant that we have a strong signal of from Congress to move forward with this program.”
In the past, Greece has also shown interest in purchasing used F-35 fighters from the USAF, which would allow for a much shorter delivery time. That's what Athens did in the Rafale fighter contract: the document was signed on January 25, 2021 and the first aircraft arrived in the country on January 19 of this year.
“All this will happen. And our view is that this is a natural progression both from the longstanding US-Greece cooperation in the Air Force domain, but also from the steps that Greece has been taking recently and we must not lose sight of the F-16 Viper Upgrade Program and all the ability and skill upgrades that this program is providing as well.”, concludes.
The F-35 was acquired by 14 countries and selected by two others, in addition to other nations such as Greece itself and, more recently, the Roménia, who have already publicly expressed their intention to buy the stealth jet. Despite the known aircraft issues, more than 720 aircraft have already been delivered by January 2022.
