Parliament set to ratify arms program
The Greek Parliament will be invited on Tuesday to approve three of the most important armament programs developed by Greece in recent years, especially for the strengthening of the Hellenic Navy.
The relevant bill was submitted on Wednesday, and includes the supply of three French FDI-type frigates, six additional Rafale F3-R-type aircraft and 44 SeaHake mod4 torpedoes for the Type-214 (Papanikolis-class) submarines of the Hellenic Navy.
The total budget will reach €4.44 billion, spread out over a six-year period. However, the largest installments will be paid in the first years of the programs.
The cost of the program for the three French frigates stands at €3.23 billion, and includes the ships themselves, their weapons and their subsequent support.
Regarding Greece’s air power, the acquisition of the six new Rafales amounts to about €1.09 billion and about €112 million for 44 torpedoes.
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos on Wednesday announced another six-month extension to the project for the completion of the Super Vita missiles for the Hellenic Navy.
Apart from the delayed ratification of these programs by Parliament next week, the Defense Ministry is also conducting discussions regarding the US F-35 fighter jets. The talks over recent days involved Greek and US military and defense officials from the Pentagon.
If the Greek government was to decide to procure these fifth-generation fighters, a delivery date before 2027 would be difficult. The F-35 has already been selected by a number of European countries in recent months (Switzerland, Finland). It is understood that the US believes that Greece should, if it so wishes, start the necessary bureaucratic procedures in the event of interest.
