ATHENS — Moving to further bolster its defenses against Turkey provocations – after making a deal to buy French warships and Rafale fighter jets – Greece reportedly wants to acquire 30 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets of the Royal Air Force, due to be retired by 2025.
Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said that, “All possible options are being considered to find the most suitable solution, in order to further upgrade the operational capabilities of the Air Force,” said Aviation News.
That was said in response to a question in Parliament from Kyriakos Velopoulos, leader of the ultra-nationalist Greek Solution party which has no clout in the 300-member body.
The fighters from the UK would allow Greece to retire 18 antiqued McDonnell-Douglas F-4E Phantom II jets it is currently operating, said the site, which specializes in air defense news.
The UK is looking to phase out the Typhoons although by 2025 they will have used only 42 percent of their life flying hours and the Tranche 1 variant of the aircraft, the eldest of the four developed, is limited to the use of air-air missiles and has very limited air-ground capabilities without the use of an external pod.