Hellenic Air Force one step ahead
The American commitment to reinforce Greece with fifth-generation fighter jets, along with the sale of a number of more sophisticated F-16s, is indicative, at least for now, of Washington’s wish to maintain a certain balance of air power in the Aegean.
If Greece’s F-35 fighter jets purchase goes ahead, then in 2030 the Hellenic Air Force will have its first fifth-generation fighters, which will be fully interoperable with the 83 F-16 Vipers already being upgraded at the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (EAV) facility (eight have already been delivered).
The ability of the F-35s to work with the F-16 Vipers and the parallel presence of 24 Rafales will essentially create an operational control environment over the Aegean, which the Turkish Air Force will not be able to approach, even if the plan to buy 40 new F-16 Vipers and upgrade 79 existing ones to the type goes ahead.
Nevertheless, a total of 120 F-16 Vipers are capable of keeping Turkey just one step behind Greece in terms of air superiority.
Turkey’s return, meanwhile, to the F-35 – now of course not as a country that builds them but as a potential buyer – it is not on the horizon, at least at the moment.
In the meantime, two chess games are going on between the State Department and Congress on the one hand and Turkey and the White House on the other, over how the supply of F-16s to Ankara will be combined with the completion of Sweden’s NATO membership and safeguarding Greece’s security.
According to highly informed sources Washington will wait for Sweden’s NATO membership, which Ankara unlocked a few days ago, to proceed before making any moves.
Obviously, an extremely influential role in this equation is played by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Bob Menendez, who has called for clear assurances over how Turkey intends to use the F-16 jets.
