It was unthinkable for the United States to authorize the sale of F-35A fighter-bombers to Greece without also complying with Turkey's request to purchase F-16 Vipers. And this in order to maintain their relations with these two countries, members of the Atlantic Alliance since 1952.
However, in order to receive F-16 Vipers, Turkey had to agree, among other things, to Sweden joining NATO. This happened on January 23rd after months of discussions.
Responsible for the export of American military equipment under the so-called FMS procedure [Foreign Military Sales]the Defense Security Cooperation Agency [DSCA] rushed to issue a notice calling on Congress to accept the possible sale of 40 F-16 Vipers, 79 older-generation F-16 conversion kits and a large amount of ammunition for an estimated amount of $23 billion .
At the same time, it also approved the possible sale of 40 F-35As to Greece for $8.6 billion [environ 7,9 milliards d’euros].
At first glance, looking at the DSCA announcement about the possible sale of 24 F-35As to the Czech Republic for an estimated amount of $5.62 billion, this offer appears to have a price difference of about $20 million per Device more advantageous. However, the proposal made in Athens does not take into account ammunition… By the way, in September 2020, the American government offered Switzerland 40 F-35As for $6.58 billion [soit un prix unitaire de 164,5 millions, munitions comprises, ndlr].
However, it is not certain whether the final contract will provide for the delivery of 40 F-35As, as Greek authorities had previously planned to order 18 to 24 aircraft in addition to purchasing 24 Rafale [dont 12 d’occasion] with France.
In its statement, the DSCA explains that this sale will “enable Greece to modernize its air force, improve its ability to ensure the defense of its airspace, contribute to NATO missions and maintain interoperability” with American forces.
At this point, the F-35A has its own data link system [MADL, pour Multi Function Advanced Data Link]which does not allow it to communicate with other NATO aircraft over Link 16 except through the use of a gateway called BACN [Battlefield Airbone Communication Node] probably “worsening” his stealth…
However, for the DSCA, the F-35A will compensate for “the increasing obsolescence of other Greek Air Force aircraft such as the F-4.” [Phantom II] and the Mirage 2000 [-5MkII] “.
While the 1,000th F-35 recently rolled off the assembly line, deliveries in the US are still suspended due to delays in software upgrades [appelée Technology Refresh 3 – TR-3] is intended to pave the way for the F-35 Block 4, i.e. the version that will contain all the capabilities listed in its specifications. According to Lockheed-Martin, 120 aircraft may not be delivered in 2024.