Greece plans to send 32 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine
Greece has planned to decommission 32 old F-16 Block-30 fighter jets and send them to Ukraine.
Source: Al Jazeera with reference to its sources
Details: The Hellenic Air Force plans to upgrade 82 F-16s to Block-70 configuration and acquire 24 fourth-generation Rafale fighter jets from France.
The US Congress committee has also authorised Greece to purchase up to 40 fifth-generation F-35 multirole fighters.
According to Al Jazeera’s sources, Greece believes it is better to send these aircraft back to the US first, where they would be upgraded and then sent to Kyiv.
However, the Hellenic Air Force representative stated, "The sale of 32 F-16s … would open a big hole in the air force. … There has to be a quorum of about 200 aircraft, which can’t happen with more modern and expensive fighter jets".
Background:
- On 10 July, leaders of the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands, who head the fighter jet coalition, announced that Ukraine will receive its first F-16 aircraft this summer.
- In early July, it was announced that the Netherlands would shortly begin supplying Ukraine with the first of 24 F-16 fighter jets.
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