American team in Athens – The process for the acquisition of F-35 starts immediately, says Panagiotopoulos
Mobility in Athens and Washington provokes the official request submitted by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to include the Greek Air Force in its arsenal of state-of-the-art American 5th generation fighter aircraft F-35. Technical staff consisting of the US Pentagon staff participating in the JSF PO (Joint Strike Fighter Program Office) for the construction of F-35 fighter jets are already in Athens and as announced by the National Defense met with the minister. Nikos Panayotopoulos. The US Ambassador Athens also participated in the meeting George James Tsounis.
During the meeting, the Minister of National Defense stressed that following the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the United States, The process of acquiring F-35 aircraft will begin immediatelywhich will cover its planned business Air Force.
Mr. Panagiotopoulos stated that the General Staffs will take the required actions, in the context of the current procurement process of defense equipment. During the meeting, it was stressed that the acquisition of F-35 aircraft, which will further strengthen the country’s deterrent capacity and interoperability Armed Forces of Greece and the USAreflects the strategic level of bilateral defense relations.
As revealed by “THEMA”, the Greek government asked to buy from the United States a small matrix of Americans F-35 fighter jets and the discussion with the team of technocrats of the US Department of Defense from the JSF Program Office aims to confirm the details of the requested supply, to clarify the receipt of F-35s can never begin, how many 5th generation students can be delivered and to finalize the characteristics that will have the aircraft that will take over the guarding of the Aegean from the end of the decade.
Is for the third time in the last six months that team of Americans from the JSF Program Office is coming to Greece to discuss details of the contract being negotiated in order to finalize the Letter of Request (LOR) formal letter, which after approval by the United States Legislature will be converted into a Letter of Request (LOR) ) will bind Washington to the highest selling prices of F-35s in Greece.
US sources report that The production schedule of the F-35s is at a mature stage globally on an international production line and so the price of an F-35A (fly away cost) is approaching $ 80 million lower. Washington even claims that the price for each F-35 without its weapons and without adding up the significant costs required to build support infrastructure, safety and pilot training will be less than the price of French Rafale fighters receiving the Air Force. The total budget of the program is expected to significantly exceed 3 billion. euro. The dramatic changes from the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Ukraine give Athens room to negotiate fiscal limits, and the Americans claim that the program will be repaid in the long run and on favorable terms of use under the provisions of the US agreement. just recently.
Officials say that the production process of the F-35s is in full development in the period 2026-2031, a fact that opens the prospect of receiving the first F-35s with the completion of the upgrade program of the 80s. F-16 Block 52 of the Air Force in the VIPER version.
After the expulsion of Turkey from the F-35 program, there are available places in the production of F-35s that could be attributed to Greece, especially in the period 2026-2031. US sources warn, however, that if the F-35 Squadron is not requested by Athens with an official LOR in time, there could be a delay, as the belated expression of interest and finally the order will succeed in returning the slots to other countries.
Telephone communication with the British Minister of Defense
The Minister of National Defense, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, had a telephone conversation today with his British counterpart, Ben Walla.
At the center of the communication between the two men, were found the possibilities of strengthening the bilateral defense cooperation and mutually beneficial equipment of programs.
As reported, views were also exchanged on most information in Ukraine and the security situation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
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