Part of a multibillion-dollar contract, planes fly over Acropolis
(ANSA) – TANAGRA, 19 JAN – Greece received six Rafale jets from France today as part of a multibillion-dollar arms purchase agreement intended, according to Athens and Paris, to increase the EU’s defense capabilities, but seen by many observers mainly in contrast to Turkish ambitions in the Mediterranean.
The six warplanes landed at Tanagra air base, about 70 kilometers north of Athens, after flying over the Acropolis escorted by Mirage previously purchased by France.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who attended the ceremony, said the new aircraft “make our air force one of the strongest in Europe and the Mediterranean” and strengthen the “flexibility” of Greek diplomacy. He added that there was an “urgent need” to upgrade the Greek air force, often engaged in mock aerial combat with Turkish jets in the Aegean airspace contested by Ankara. Orthodox priests blessed the jets on the Tanagra runway.
Greece and France originally signed a € 2.5 billion deal last January for 18 Rafale jets, 12 used and six new.
Last September, Greece and France signed a mutual assistance defense pact which also provides for the purchase by Athens of three Belharra frigates. Mitsotakis announced plans to purchase six more Rafale jets, bringing the total order to 24.
The frigates should be delivered in 2025 and 2026, for a value of around three billion euros (ANSA).