ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece is predicted to ship an official request within the coming days to the United States for the purchase of 20 (*20*) Martin made F-35 fighter jets, defence sources stated on Thursday.
NATO member Greece spends greater than 2% of its gross home product on defence spending. It has beefed up its navy purchases lately as tensions with its neighbor, historic rival and NATO ally, Turkey have resurfaced.
“The related doc has been signed,” one of the sources stated. Deliveries of the jets will start in 2027-2028.
According to state TV ERT the Letter of Request has been signed and is predicted to be submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Athens this week. This is step one in a multi-stage course of.
Greece and Turkey have been at odds for a long time over a sequence of points starting from overflights within the Aegean and the extent of their continental cabinets and their maritime boundaries to vitality assets and ethnically-split Cyprus.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the purchase of F-35 jets throughout a go to in May to the United States.
Athens ordered 24 Dassault-made Rafale jets final 12 months for 2.5 billion euros and three navy frigates with an possibility for a fourth one from France for about 3 billion euros.
According to state ERT TV, the defence ministry additionally needs to proceed with the improve of F-16 fighter jets.
On Wednesday, the United States supported the potential sale of U.S. F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, a day after Ankara lifted a veto of NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, saying that sturdy Turkish protection capabilities would reinforce NATO’s defences.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Lefteris Papadimas, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
