Greece has agreed to buy at least 20 F-35s for $3.5 billion, with options for up to 40 fighters in total, in a deal worth up to $8.6 billion, the Greek defense ministry announced July 25. The jets will be delivered starting in 2028.
Greece is now the 19th country to officially join the F-35 program, and the 12th to do so in Europe.
The move has been a long time coming—Greece began the process in 2019, but the purchase was delayed by the country’s financial crisis.
The sale will also include at least 42 engines, plus electronic warfare equipment, communications, training and logistics support.
The purchase is one element of what the Athens government calls a major overhaul of its defense structure. Greece is updating its air defense fleet, which features F-16 Block 52s, French Dassault Mirage 2000s, and Rafales, some of which were aircraft from the French inventory. A majority of the F-16s are being upgraded to F-16V configuration, while some others and the French aircraft are likely to be sold. Greece has hinted that it may sell or provide some of its F-16s to Ukraine.
Defense minister Nikos Dendias said in a statement F-35s will be a “powerful deterrent in our region.”
The sale will give Greece a leg up in its military competition with NATO ally Turkey, with which it has a longstanding border dispute. At this month’s NATO summit, Turkey suggested it might acquire Eurofighter Typhoons and scale back a major upgrade of its large F-16 fleet. Turkey was drummed out of the F-35 program five years ago when it decided to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems, which NATO and F-35 partners said could give Russia crucial information about how to detect and defeat F-35s.
Lt. Gen. Michael J. Schmidt, F-35 program executive officer, said the F-35 will provide “exceptional capability to the Hellenic Air Force, build interoperability between our allies and strengthen the combat effectiveness for all of NATO.”
Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and F-35 general manager, said the company has a long F-16 relationship with Greece and said the F-35 is “the only fighter suitable to strengthen Greece’s sovereignty and operational capability with allies.”
In a press statement, Lockheed noted that 10 European countries will operate the F-35 by the 2030s—totaling more than 600 aircraft—and the U.S. Air Force has fielded two operational squadrons at RAF Lakenheath, England. Nearly 1,000 F-35s are deployed operationally worldwide.
The list of countries either operating or buying the F-35 include:
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Norway
- Finland
- Denmark
- Belgium
- The Netherlands
- Poland
- Italy
- Switzerland
- Germany
- Czech Republic
- Israel
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Japan
- Australia