Greece is preparing to sell 108 old fighter jets destined for decommissioning, with 32 F-16C/-D Block 30 aircraft likely to be transferred to Ukraine.
Defense Minister Nikolaos Dendias, during a recent visit to the General Directorate of Defense Armaments and Investments, announced that the Air Force reform plan ‘Agenda 2030’ envisions that by 2030, the Air Force will have 200 modern 4.5 and 5th-generation aircraft, gradually phasing out 3rd and 4th-generation aircraft, the portal writes.
According to the news portal Newsbreak, the idea is to sell 108 retired fighter jets to fund the price of new weaponry. These fighter jets will include 32 F-16C/-D Block 30 aircraft, 24 Mirage 2000-5 Mk.2 aircraft, and 33 F-4E PI2000 aircraft. Some estimates suggest that the sales revenues range from two to two and a half billion euros; nevertheless, the portal implies that this is more wishful thinking than reality.
“Especially concerning the F-4E, the chances of resale are practically zero,” the article’s author believes.
On the contrary, the situation is quite different regarding the 32 F-16C/-D Block 30 aircraft, whose transfer to Ukraine is virtually assured. According to the article, these fighters have undergone two structural upgrades and have used approximately sixty percent of their maximal service life thus far.
Considering that 14 of the 24 Mirage 2000-5 Mk.2s are brand new (the 15th one was involved in an accident and crashed), and the remaining 14 are modifications of older Mirage 2000EGM/-BGMs, the authors believe that it is more difficult to speculate on where 24 of these aircraft could end up.
According to the portal, the transfer of these aircraft to Ukraine or their sale to India are both viable choices, provided that France consents.
The fighters have suffered significantly over the previous decade due to the memorandum with creditors, which has led to a deficiency in technical maintenance and support; however, their serviceability is currently on the verge of recovering. In conclusion, the authors conclude that there are fighters of this type (Mirage 2000-5 Mk.2) with just 1500 flying hours, indicating they have a significant amount of time left.
© 2024, GDC. © GDC and www.globaldefensecorp.com. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to www.globaldefensecorp.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Be the first to comment