SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Greek PM hails US approval of F-35 fighter jet sale
Athens, Jan 27 (AFP) Jan 27, 2024
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday welcomed a US decision to approve the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Athens.

Ending months of negotiations, the US government on Friday okayed the $8.6-billion sale, as well as a separate $23-billion deal to sell 40 F-16 warplanes to Turkey.

"Today is an important day for our national defence and for Greek diplomacy," Mitsotakis said in a statement.

"Greece is officially on track to acquire up to 40 new generation F-35 combat planes."

Mitsotakis said he had received a letter from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken which "showed the strategic strength of Greek-US relations".

In the letter, Blinken said: "Greece has taken remarkable steps to modernize its defense capabilities. I look forward to increasing our cooperation and developing a more robust strategic relationship between our armed forces."

As required by US law, the State Department notified Congress of the agreements, which were held up until Ankara ratified Sweden's NATO membership.

In addition to the F-35s, Greece will "acquire for free a very large quantity of equipment which will decisively strengthen the three branches of the armed forces and the Greek coastguard service," the prime minister said.

This includes frigates, C-130 cargo planes, tanks, armoured vehicles and numerous other pieces of military equipment.

Greece has been seeking for some time to buy more sophisticated F-35 jets from the US as part of its strategy of defence against Turkey, with which ties are often strained.

Athens vigorously opposed the sale of US F-16s to Ankara, due to a dispute over maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean, which is rich in energy resources.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Out of the string theory swampland
Where did cosmic rays come from? MSU astrophysicists are closer to finding out
Silicate clouds discovered in atmosphere of distant exoplanet

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Auto sector reels from China's rare earth restrictions
c-FIRST Team Sets Sights on Future Fire-observing Satellite Constellations
Leaders warn race for minerals could turn seabed into 'wild west'

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Japan says two Chinese aircraft carriers seen in Pacific
NATO learns as Ukraine's 'creativity' changes battlefield
Rare earths: China's trump card in trade war with US

24/7 News Coverage
'No doubt' Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO
What is the high seas treaty?
World leaders urged to step up for overexploited oceans



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.