Greece to buy Eurofighters

[Thijs]

The German newspaper die Zeit mentions that Greece wants to buy sixty Eurofighters.

So you lend them some money which they are going invest in the European defence industry. I creative form of governmental support for EADS

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[Stratofreighter]

Auf Deutsch:
http://www.zeit.de/2012/02/Ruestung-Griechenland .

"Die Finanzierung" could prove interesting though...

[SquAdmin]

Hardly surprising, probably already part of the closed door negotiations. Nonetheless, remarkable that Greece has the political guts to talk about new military hardware...

[michel N]

Yeah right, Greece is bankrupt, and wants to spend 9 billion euros on Typhoons, submarines, patrol boats and modernisation of patrol boats. Seems logical... Just let them fly the Phantoms for some more years, and give back the money they needed to save them from bankruptcy.

[Polecat]

The German newspaper die Zeit mentions that Greece wants to buy sixty Eurofighters.

So you lend them some money which they are going invest in the European defence industry. I creative form of governmental support for EADS

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

So what's new??? We lent them the money so they could buy French Mirages and helo's, we lent them the money so they could hire German designers, contractors and engineers to design and build a new international airport, we lent them money for so many projects, as long as we could make profit on it..
Don't get me wrong, I know the Greek are probably the most anarchistic people in Europe and for sure they are to blame for the crisis to a fair extent, but this fighter deal is hardly something new.. In fact, even over most loans to them we still make a profit..

[nils]

i think in some way its a good move,

Greece operates a large fleet of old fighters from the 60's (with exception of the F-16C/D and M2K of course) and due to the age of the aircraft, they ban be very expensive to maintain, especially the A-7 dating from the 60's.
replacing them by new aircraft with low maintainance cost and an offset deal, might be a good move
although in this time where the greek goverment needs every penny to save the country from bankrupcy, i think it might be better to psostpone the deal and retire the older F-4E, RF-4E, A-7E and F-5's. the F-16 and the Mirage already do most of the work, and its not like Turkey is going to invade the country.

another way to raise money would be to sell some of its older Blk.30 vipers to NATO countries in need of new fighters (Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia,...)

[F17_114PM]

In fact, even over most loans to them we still make a profit..

This is very true, but unfortunately, most people in Europe don´t know it, or understand it.

The Greek government is under enormous pressure, especially from Germany (who else, since Germany is the new big boss of Europe) to buy Eurofighter´s. It´s simple, no Eurofighters, no more money. That´s how European politics are working. Let us all be proud to be members of this "great" European family ...

[mart]

i think in some way its a good move,

Greece operates a large fleet of old fighters from the 60's (with exception of the F-16C/D and M2K of course) and due to the age of the aircraft, they ban be very expensive to maintain, especially the A-7 dating from the 60's.
replacing them by new aircraft with low maintainance cost and an offset deal, might be a good move
although in this time where the greek goverment needs every penny to save the country from bankrupcy, i think it might be better to psostpone the deal and retire the older F-4E, RF-4E, A-7E and F-5's. the F-16 and the Mirage already do most of the work, and its not like Turkey is going to invade the country.

another way to raise money would be to sell some of its older Blk.30 vipers to NATO countries in need of new fighters (Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia,...)

A combined sale of German and Hellenic F-4's might make sence if any country thinks they are worth purchasing, but with so many hours on the frames I doubt that there is much interest. Anyway it makes sence to retire the batch like you say, I really wonder what the costs are to keep that fleet in the air. Holland is not doing to bad in the crisis, and even we have had to drastically scale down the military. It is very surprising Greece does not seem to do the same.

[F17_114PM]

The current plan is to combine the F-4E in 1 squadron, to retire the RF-4 and A-7.
The TA-7 will continue to fly, as they have by far the lowest costs pro flying hour, from any fighter in the HAF inventory

[SquAdmin]

the F-16 and the Mirage already do most of the work

How do you know? Five years ago we visited Andravida and the Phantoms were still very active in the daily cat and mouse game against the Turkish Air Force. In the mean time things could have changed of course, but I wouldn't write off and old Phantom with long range missiles.

The TA-7 will continue to fly, as they have by far the lowest costs pro flying hour, from any fighter in the HAF inventory

How many TA-7's are still operational at this moment? Do you have any idea?

[F17_114PM]

The Phantoms are still very active.

The active TA-7 should be around 10, but the number varies from month to month.

[Polecat]

At the risk of pulling this topic into the "tattle lounge" I wonder if these reports are really something new, or are old reports of pre-2004 surfacing again? I think Greece already less or more ordered 60 Eufi's, but cancelled in 2004. I find it a bit surprising that almost 9 years later the same number (at higher cost) reaches the news again where most countries cut on numbers.
Furthermore, Northern European reactions aside, I don't really see how Greek politicians will be able to tell this to their people with so many unemployed, and pensioners who only get a 340 euro pension a month..

[F17_114PM]

I believe you must have right!

It´s impossible for Greece to buy now Eurofighters or any other new fighters. If, they get "new" fighters, it will and could be only used F-16 or F-15 from USAF. (The F-15 rumour is getting around in Greece. The rumour tells, that Israel will get 48 USAF F-15 ex Iraq and pass 24 of them to Greece for a combined Squadron). But, I don´t belive it ...

[Coati]

Polecat, I also think you are right. Reading the article carefully, it is not mentioned that Greece is actually buying Eurofighters. It is mentioned as a paradox which could be a reality, despite the crisis.

[Le Addeur noir]

It may help the Germans offload EF2000s that otherwise would have to be modified at cost to the Bundswehr.Reducing the EF2000 order is not going to happen due to prohibitive cancellation costs.

60 sound a bit high,maybe the final number will be less.