Greece may acquire four warships through joint production with the US

Washington and Athens are about to sign a large-scale military deal for the sale and production of new frigates for the Greek navy.

According to a publication in the US military online magazine,

The news was actually announced by the US Ambassador to Greece Jeffrey Payat during the annual conference of the US Army Association in Greece. As a suggestion as to which Greek partner to take part in the project, the Trump administration is proposing that it be the Greek shipyard Onex, located on the island of Syros.

This decision has been reached in recent weeks, according to a statement by the US ambassador. He said the discussion had taken place recently because members of the US military program team were visiting Greece and the possibility of Greece and the United States jointly producing military frigates had been widely and thoroughly discussed. According to the results of the meeting, both sides can agree on the so-called “co-production approach”.

The US ambassador also said the project was as important to Greek defense as it was to US security in the region, as Washington would continue to be a strong ally and a strong player in the Balkans.

It is not yet clear, however, which design and which frigate the Americans will offer for Greek production. It is unlikely to be the new FREMM, but it is widely rumored among the Greek military that it may be Lockheed Martin’s Multi-Mission Surface. We remind you that under a similar scheme, Saudi Arabia bought four MMSC warships worth a total of nearly $ 2 billion. This model for a possible Greek acquisition has also been commented on as a potential opportunity.

There is a second option and that is the repair and complete renovation of the Oliver Hazzard Perry frigates. The United States has a habit of transferring such ships to its partners, while offering to repair them. We remind you that some time ago Turkey took advantage of this option.

The purchase of four frigates by Athens is part of a program to rearm the Greek military, which was presented in September by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. This program also includes the purchase of Rafale fighters, renovation of old fighter jets, helicopters, torpedoes, anti-tank weapons and more.

In recent months, Greece has been in a difficult situation as a conflict has resumed that seems to have been forgotten, and that is the conflict with Turkey over the continental shelf and the sea border between the two countries. This conflict was dictated by the fact that the Turkish side began exploring and digging for gas, in a very controversial and “sick” topic for the Greeks.

Some Greek journalists asked the US ambassador about his position on the conflict between the two countries (Greece and Turkey – ed.) And he flatly refused to give an answer, maintaining neutrality on the issue.

So far, it is also clear that in addition to the United States, other countries have a desire to build ships with the Greeks. One of these countries is France, which has generally had very good political and military-political relations in recent years. French President Emmanuel Macron has even openly criticized Turkey’s policy towards the Greeks and even promised to intervene in favor of Athens if things escalate.

Greece is preparing to acquire a squadron of 24 F-35 fighter jets

If Greece wants its Armed Forces to be combative, competitive and able to face the constant threat from the East, then they should proceed to the necessary reinforcement with new weapons systems and modernization of the old ones as we reported on September 24 this year.

Somewhere here, of course, Athens also wants an F-35 fighter jet. This is a news that Greek website Pentapostagma first reported a few days ago: “A large American website reveals that Greece is “preparing”, among other things, for the acquisition of a squadron of 24 5th generation F-35A fighter jets, most likely from 2024″ the article said.

“Thus, the “gap” of Greece with other countries will be closed definitively and irrevocably, giving the state’s Air Force an indisputable quality superiority, after the inaction due to the economic crisis in the previous years, putting the country in the era of state-of-the-art aircraft” the article’s author continues.

Source: bulgarianmilitary.com

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