Turkish F-35s to Greece

According to the newspapers Greek City Times and Estia, during the recent visit of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Greece, the supply of 20 F-35s was discussed and agreed, six of which will be purchased in 2022 and will be delivered together with the first six Rafale fighter jets from France.

Greece’s interest in fifth generation fighters was already known but the news in question could be seen almost as a sign of karma because the six Greek aircraft would be those initially destined for Turkey. The United States excluded Turkey from a deal to purchase the F-35s last year after the Turkish government took delivery of Russian S-400 air defence missiles.

The U.S. Air Force have already received 8 F-35s initially destinated to Turkey and is expected to receive 24 other — which are in various stages of production — that were being built for Ankara.