After Rafale, Greece is now looking to buy Eurofighter Typhoon
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| RAF Eurofghter Typhoon. |
The Hellenic Air Force appears to be considering purchasing Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft from the Royal Air Force's inventory, Aerotime said, citing Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos.
"All possible options are being considered to find the most suitable solution, in order to further upgrade the operational capabilities of the Air Force," Panagiotopoulos said when questioned about the prospect by Kyriakos Velopoulos, president of the conservative party Ellinikà Lýsi.
The UK's Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, James Heappey, recently said they intend to retire 30 Typhoon Tranche 1s by 2025. Greece is reported to want to buy these aircraft to replace the old fleet of 18 McDonnell-Douglas F-4E Phantom II jets.
According to Heappey, the 30 Typhoon T1s will be retired with an average of nearly 60% of their cell fatigue lives remaining. This is because Tranche 1 has limited combat capabilities without being able to receive major upgrades.
This arms purchase campaign by Greece is the result of growing territorial tensions with Turkey. At the beginning of the year, the Greek government purchased 18 Rafale fighters to which a further 6 will soon be added. In addition, Athens asked the United States for approval to purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35.
"All possible options are being considered to find the most suitable solution, in order to further upgrade the operational capabilities of the Air Force," Panagiotopoulos said when questioned about the prospect by Kyriakos Velopoulos, president of the conservative party Ellinikà Lýsi.
The UK's Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, James Heappey, recently said they intend to retire 30 Typhoon Tranche 1s by 2025. Greece is reported to want to buy these aircraft to replace the old fleet of 18 McDonnell-Douglas F-4E Phantom II jets.
According to Heappey, the 30 Typhoon T1s will be retired with an average of nearly 60% of their cell fatigue lives remaining. This is because Tranche 1 has limited combat capabilities without being able to receive major upgrades.
This arms purchase campaign by Greece is the result of growing territorial tensions with Turkey. At the beginning of the year, the Greek government purchased 18 Rafale fighters to which a further 6 will soon be added. In addition, Athens asked the United States for approval to purchase the Lockheed Martin F-35.
Since the Eurofighter T1 has poor air-to-ground capabilities and the HAF currently uses its Phantoms for ground attack missions, it is not clear to us why Greece is evaluating RAF aircraft.
Written by Matteo Sanzani
Image: Eurofighter GmbH
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