The Greek government has signed a letter of offer and acceptance for the purchase of 20 Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft through a U.S. foreign military sale, with an optional 20 additional F-35s. Washington approved the sale, valued at $8.6 billion, in January.
Bridget Lauderdale, Lockheed Martin’s vice president and F-35 program general manager, noted that the purchase makes Greece the 19th member nation of the F-35 program and that the deal continues the company’s decades-long partnership with the Greek air force. “The F-35 is the only fighter suitable to strengthen Greece’s sovereignty and operational capability with allies,” she said.
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Mike Schmidt, the F-35 Joint Program Office’s executive officer, said the aircraft will bring “exceptional capability to the Hellenic Air Force” and strengthen interoperability and combat effectiveness among NATO allies.
According to Lockheed, the F-35 is rapidly growing as NATO’s standard fighter aircraft, with over 600 units projected to operate collaboratively in over 10 European countries by the 2030s.
The Hellenic Armed Forces also operates a Lockheed F-16 fleet, part of which is currently upgrading to the advanced Viper configuration. In addition, Athens has signed an LOA for acquiring 35 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters the U.S. State Department approved in December 2023.
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