Greece’s large-scale purchase of 20 F-35s, the upgrade of their F-16 Block 52+ to the Viper version, and prospective additional acquisitions of French Rafales might motivate it to offload its older fleet. This includes the older F-16 Block 30 jets, Mirage 2000-5s, and F-4E Phantom IIs.
Greece’s defense minister Nikos Dendias said it is “almost certain” that Athens will transfer the fighters to Kyiv. He said the offloading could happen following the ongoing “radical” overhaul of its armed forces, which involves prioritizing a thorough reassessment of its air force.
“We have a cartload of different types of aircraft. We have F-4s, Mirage 2000-5s, Block 30 F-16s, Block 50 F-16s, Block 52 F-16s, Viper F-16s and Rafales. We cannot carry on this way,” Dendias was
quoted on Greek television. These aircraft need to be “sold” to enable rationalization of the diverse fleet of aircraft and ease logistical issues.