Greece will sell some of its fighter jets

As part of a large-scale reform, the Greek government plans to decommission and sell F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighter jets.

Defense Minister Nikos Dendias announced this.

The Head of the Defense Ministry confirmed the government’s plans to radically reconstruct the Greek armed forces during “the largest reform program in the history of the modern Greek state.”

He stated that the renovation of the Air Force is at the top of the list of priorities, pointing out that the current aircraft fleet is overloaded due to the large number of different types of aircraft and needs to be unified.

“We have F-4s, Mirage 2000-5s, Block 30 F-16s, Block 50 F-16s, Block 52 F-16s, Viper F-16s, and Rafales. We cannot move forward like this,” he pointed out.

The Greek government motivates the future reduction of the fleet of its fighter jets with high costs. This would include the decommissioning of the oldest aircraft, which will be sold if possible.

“The F-4s need to be retired and, if possible, sold. The Mirage 2000-5 is an exceptionally capable aircraft and can be sold. The Block 30 F-16s also need to be sold. And I think we will be able to sell the [Mirage 2000-5 and Block 30 F-16s],” Dendias said, pointing to the enormous cost of maintaining many different types of aircraft.

Militarnyi previously reported that the Greek Ministry of Defense planned to sell 18 Mirage 2000 aircraft, decommissioned from the country’s air force in 2022, to India.

The F-16 Block 30 fleet includes 40 fighter jets, along with the same amount of the Block 50 version. However, it is not known how many of them are currently operational.

Update of the Greek aviation

The F-16 fighter jets that will remain in service will subsequently be upgraded to the Block 70/72 versions – the most modern version of this aircraft.

“We need to strengthen our fleet of Rafales – we have 24, but it would be good to reach 30 – and, of course, to acquire the F-35 Block 4,” he added.

Dendias acknowledged that the country had delays in the program to upgrade F-16s to the latest version, but said he believed the country would have an “adequate fleet” of aircraft “at the latest” by 2027.”

This January, the US State Department agreed on the possible sale of 40 F-35A fighter jets and related equipment to Greece in the amount of $8.6 billion.