Greek press criticises the government for 'F-35'
A harsh criticism came from the Greek press regarding the F-35 fighter jets sold to Greece with the approval of the USA. According to the news of the IEidiseis newspaper, it was stated that the current state of the F-35s purchased at low costs is dysfunctional and that very large costs are required to arm the aircraft.
The US, which did not refuse Greece's F-35 request, made an official notification to the congress on the sale of fighter jets and equipment. An information hidden from the Greek people about the F-35 fighter jet was revealed.
According to the official prices of Lockheed Martin and the US Congress, the cost of the unarmed F-35 platform alone is $ 9 billion.
The cost of the weapons is 3 to 4 times higher than the cost of acquiring the aircraft. Therefore, the total cost of 40 F35s for 25 years is estimated to be around 40 billion.
'UNARMED' AIRCRAFT
The current government is following the path of previous governments by purchasing unarmed defence systems in order to demonstrate lower costs for this particular procurement. That is, unarmed F-35s were allegedly purchased for parades, not for air combat.
The Greek Armed Forces have a traumatic experience from the recent past:
PzH cannons in 2000: This system was purchased before the 40 km range missiles, which were the reason for the purchase of this system, were purchased (24 years later, they still do not exist).
In 2002, Leopard-2 tanks were purchased without ammunition.
In 2003, ultra-modern submarines were purchased, which after 20 years (they exceeded the middle of their life) still did not have the corresponding torpedoes.
In 2005, F-16s were purchased, and although they were upgraded to Vipers, the problem of self-protection of F16s has still not been solved.
The F-35s from the US will not include new weapons. This is because Athens does not want them in order to show lower costs, unlike Turkey's F16 request, which includes a long list of weapon systems.
In addition, despite promises and statements by the Minister of Defence to strengthen the domestic defence industry, Greece has not requested any co-production or any level of participation in F-35 maintenance.
