Airpower Renewal Fuels Greek Defense Spending Drive

Tony Osborne Thierry Dubois January 28, 2021

Success for the Rafale in Greece means the aircra has found success in another NATO country for the rst time, continuing a nearly 50-year relationship that started with the
sale of the Mirage F1.
Credit: G. Gosset/Dassault Aviation

With contracts for new ghters signed, combat aircra upgrades in progress and a new fast-jet training system in the pipeline, Greece is hoping it
can restore its airpower capability to its former glory.

Parliamentary hearings in the run up to the Jan. 25 signing of the €2.5 billion ($3.04 million) deal with France for 18 Dassault Rafales focused on how
the decade-long economic downturn has hobbled the Hellenic Air Force and its fast-jet and transport aircra eets.

First locally upgraded F-16V began ight tests in January

Greece has restarted support contracts for ghters and transport aircra

But the acquisition of the Dassault Rafale—with the rst due to arrive in-country this summer from French Air and Space Force stocks—is only part
of the story.

Athens is looking for at least another 22 new-generation ghters for the air force by 2025, Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos has stated,
describing the procurement as “necessary” since it would change the “power correlations” in the “airpower balance between Greece and Turkey.”

Recent months have seen tensions between the two countries escalate, especially a er Ankaraʼs o shore exploration for energy resources in
disputed waters between them.

Greece has one of the largest ghter eets in NATO, in part to maintain parity with its eastern neighbor. It is a regular occurrence to see ghters
/
from both countries scrambled and scrapping over the Aegean Sea. The Greek combat air eet is currently split among three types: the Dassault
Where these additional 22 ghters may come from is uncertain. Greece has shown interest in purchasing the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike
Fighter, with media reports suggesting that Athens had requested an accelerated procurement of the platform.

The U.S. has formally acknowledged Greek interest in the F-35, but U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geo rey Pyatt said in December that an F-35 buy
would be a “multiyear process” and is unlikely to be rushed.

Surprisingly, Panagiotopoulos made no mention of the F-35 in his parliamentary statements. However, Greece is growing the capability of its other
combat aircra eets.

In January the rst of 84 Block 50/52-standard F-16C/Ds to be upgraded to F-16V standard, by Hellenic Aerospace Industry in conjunction with
Lockheed Martin, made its rst post-modi cation test ights.

The upgrade program includes the installation of the Northrop Grumman APG-83 active, electronically scanned array radar, upgraded mission and
communications equipment, and new cockpit displays.

The rst aircra is due to be ferried to the U.S. in the coming weeks for further testing and development, and an additional 10-12 F-16s are due to be
inducted into the modi cation line during 2021, Panagiotopoulos told lawmakers.

The minister also con rmed that new support programs had been launched to restore the availability of the Hellenic Air Forceʼs Mirage 2000 eet,
which Panagiotopoulos said was “almost at the point of being completely grounded due to the lack of spare parts since 2012.”

The Hellenic Air Forceʼs Leonardo C-27J Spartan and C-130 Hercules airli ers, several of which Panagiotopoulos said were “le grounded for many
years,” are now being restored to ying condition and made available again for operations.

Athens has also selected an Elbit Systems proposal to establish a new fast-jet training system, which will see the Israeli company supplying 10
Leonardo M-346 advanced trainers and upgrading the Hellenic Air Forceʼs Beechcra T-6 Texan II turboprop trainers for the new training syllabus.

The introduction of the M-346 will make the proposed International Flight Training Center at Kalamata Air Base analogous to the Israeli Air Forceʼs
own ight training system, which uses both the M-346 and T-6. Addition of the M-346 trainer aircra marks another step in strengthening ties
between the two countries.

Athens had competed for an international tender to modernize the countryʼs ight training system, which still leans on the North American T-2
Buckeye. Greece is the last military operator of the Buckeye.

The Rafale contract with France covers the sale of six new Rafales and 12 secondhand aircra , as well as support for 4.5 years and the sale of
missiles from MBDA. Rafale deliveries will be completed by 2023.

Greece already has stocks of Scalp air-launched cruise missiles, Exocet anti-ship weapons and Mica air-to-air missiles for its Mirage 2000 eet. These
weapons will be modi ed so they can be carried on the Rafale too. MBDA will also supply the Meteor air-breathing, beyond-visual-range air-to-air
missile.

“With the acquisition of the Rafale, the repower of the [Hellenic Air Force] will be multiplied,” Panagiotopoulos said. “It veri es a long-lasting
tradition of excellent cooperation [and] relations between our countries, both at [a] bilateral level and in the context of regional and international
organizations.”

This cooperation looks set to extend to more regular exercises. In February, the French Air and Space Forceʼs Skyros mission, which calls for testing
its long-distance projection capability, will stop over in Greece and exercise with the Hellenic Air Force using four Rafales, two Airbus A400M
airli ers and an Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport aircra . Later that month, Franceʼs Charles de Gaulle nuclear-powered aircra carrier will
operate in the Eastern Mediterranean, escorted by a Greek frigate. The exercise will provide an opportunity “to work together while reinforcing
interoperability,” said French Defense Minister Florence Parly.

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