Greeks to Buy Rafale
 

AW&ST: Greece May Purchase Rafale Fighters

France may be the major beneficiary from tensions between Greece and Turkey, as Athens considers acquiring up to 18 Dassault Rafale combat aircraft.

Greek media reports suggest 10 aircraft will be purchased, and another eight used aircraft will be transferred from French Air Force stocks free of charge. The plans emerge as tensions rise between Greece and Turkey over Turkish oil-and-gas exploration in waters claimed by both countries.......

The deal could be solidified on Sept. 10, when French President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sign a defense accord that may also include naval vessels and weapons.

Greek reports suggest the introduction of the Rafale into the region could be a game changer because the aircraft could be equipped with MBDA’s Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, which easily outdistance the Amraam air-to-air weapons used by the Turkish Air Force’s F-16s. The Meteor equips F3R-standard Rafales.

The reports suggest that 10 of the aircraft likely will be F3R models, while the secondhand aircraft will be an earlier standard such as F3.

Greece already has three front-line fighter types in its inventory: the Dassault Mirage 2000, the Lockheed Martin F-16 and the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom. Of the F-16s, about 80 are being upgraded with active, electronically scanned array radars.

The introduction of the Rafale would likely pave the way for the retirement of the Phantom........

It does sound like a Meteor purchase with an available aircraft wrapper.

In addition to the Phantoms, I'd expect the remaining M2000BG/EG operated by 332 Mira to be retired.

GIven tensions between the US and Turkey, is it likely that the TuAF Vipers will stop receiving the sorts of upgrades (hardware and OFP upgrades, for example) that will allow them to maintain parity with their Greek counterparts? If so, how long before we start seeing the Turks buying Su-35s?

One of Putin's best friends owns a mansion just a stone's throw from my holiday house, and apparently his daughter spends quite a lot of time in this magical place. Methinks Putin will take this despot's money but won't be upsetting his pal's holiday plans any time soon.

Greece could buy another 6 Rafales ? Alert 5

Greece could buy another 6 Rafales

Greek newspaper Proto Thema says Athens could buy another six Rafale fighters from France to increase the fleet size from 18 to 24.

The jets will be assigned to 332 Squadron which is now flying the Mirage 2000 at Tanagra air base.For more information, hit the Source below (In Greek).

Source

Guess Greece is feeling flush again, Rafales are not cheap.
That said, would not the military priority be on defeating the Turkish and Israeli drone based combat tactics that proved so effective in Azerbaijan?

If I didn't have a domestic defence industry to support, I think Rafale and/or Gripen would look very attractive. Actually, they look attractive despite our domestic focus...........

Avoids having to deal with the USA and whomsoever happens to be in control - or not.

Plus avoids BAe overheads, although some of those might just be embedded in Gripen.

Don't know about the overheads embedded by our French neighbours, but they seem to do well on defence sales.

I do think that Rafale and Gripen, like the F-16, just look right.......!!

AW&ST

Greece has taken delivery of its first of 18 Dassault Rafales, six months after contract signature. The first aircraft—a two-seat Rafale B—is one of 12 secondhand aircraft being delivered directly from the French Air Force inventory. Another six aircraft will be newly built…..

Six Rafales in total will be delivered by year-end, with the second batch of six arriving in early 2022. As for the new-build aircraft, they are expected to arrive in 2023. The French Air and Space Force has already ordered 12 new-build Rafales to replace those being handed over to Greece.

According to Dassault Aviation, a first group of Greek pilots are being trained by the French Air and Space Force. Meanwhile, technicians are receiving training at the OEM’s Aviation Conversion Training Center near Bordeaux.

The first aircraft will fly to Greece in the next few weeks. The type will be based alongside the Greek Dassault Mirage 2000 fleet at Tanagra Air Base, north of Athens….

As well as the Rafales, Greece also purchased a weapons package that includes the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. The weapon can be carried by the Rafale thanks to the F3R upgrade, which all the Greek Rafales will feature.

Greece—the first European export customer for the Rafale—has subsequently been joined by Croatia, which will also take 12 secondhand Rafales from French Air and Space Force stocks.

Nice Dassault video


cheers

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/2...e-fighter-jets

France confirms deal with Greece for six more Rafale fighter jets

France on Sunday confirmed that Greece had agreed to buy six more of its Rafale jets, bringing to 24 the number of French fighters sold to Athens for billions of euros.…

With 24 one owner, only flown on Sunday Rafales going away (12 to Greece and 12 to Croatia) does France consolidate a few squadrons, did they have reserves, or an excuse to produce more new builds?

I'm pretty sure that I've read that France will buy more new Rafales to back fill these early models they have sold.
Presumably at a rate that will keep Dassault's factory ticking over nicely for several years.

Greece and Croatia get reasonably modern 4th generation fast jets at a price they can afford, the L'Armee de l'Air gets a new tranche of latest-specification Rafales, and Dassault stays in the fighter production business for a few more years and also gets a nice stream of parts & maintenance revenue.
Seems like a win-win-win to me

Thanks kiwi, yes does sound like a win-win-win and a good strategy to keep the line going.

Like the US with the recent F-15 buy, the USAF gets the latest and greatest that the the foreign orders have kept the line open.