{"id":57297,"date":"2022-05-18T00:14:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-18T00:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/05\/18\/greece-seeks-to-join-f-35-program-as-it-lobbies-against-turkey-f-16-sale\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:16:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:16:13","slug":"greece-seeks-to-join-f-35-program-as-it-lobbies-against-turkey-f-16-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2022\/05\/18\/greece-seeks-to-join-f-35-program-as-it-lobbies-against-turkey-f-16-sale\/","title":{"rendered":"Greece seeks to join F-35 program as it lobbies against Turkey F-16 sale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the White House and Congress this week to make his country\u2019s case for acquiring the F-35 stealth fighter jet while lobbying against Turkey\u2019s attempts to upgrade its aging <\/b>fleet of F-16s and acquire additional aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to be outdone, Turkish officials will visit Washington later this week to make their case for Congress to consent to an approximately $400 million <\/b>deal to upgrade their F-16 jets with new missiles, radar and electronics \u2014 a prospect made more complicated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s recent vows to block Sweden and Finland from joining NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Mitsotakis announced after a meeting with President Joe Biden that Greece will move forward with its bid to acquire the F-35 after 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will launch the process for the acquisition of a squadron of F-35 aircraft, and we do hope to be able to add this fantastic plane to the Greek Air Force before the end of this decade,\u201d Mitsotakis said at the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also noted Lockheed Martin \u2014 which produces F-35s and F-16s \u2014 \u201cofficially expressed its interest in investing in Hellenic aerospace\u201d last week, right before his visit to Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media outlets in Greece cited Greek government officials as noting Lockheed Martin has invited Athens to join the F-35 co-production program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBuilding on our partnership of more than 75 years, we are honored the Greek government is interested in the F-35, and we will provide any support the U.S. government requires in discussions about an acquisition,\u201d Lockheed Martin told Defense News in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey has some explaining to do<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The United States kicked Turkey out of the F-35 program in 2019 over Ankara\u2019s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system<\/a> amid fears its advanced radar system could allow Moscow to spy on the F-35 stealth fighter jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the F-16 upgrades that the Biden administration notified Congress of last week, Erdogan has also sought to buy 40 Block 70 F-16 fighter jets. He has framed the roughly $6 billion purchase as compensation for Turkey\u2019s financial losses in the F-35 program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mitsotakis used an address to a joint meeting of Congress on Tuesday to issue a thinly veiled warning to lawmakers against allowing the F-16 sale to Turkey to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will not accept open acts of aggression that violate our sovereignty and our territorial rights,\u201d he said in reference to recent Turkish incursions of Greek airspace. \u201cThese include overflights over Greek islands, which must stop immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last thing that NATO needs at a time when our focus is helping defeat Russian aggression is another source of instability on NATO\u2019s southeastern flank,\u201d Mitsotakis added to applause from lawmakers. \u201cI ask you to take this into account when you make defense procurement decisions concerning the eastern Mediterranean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitsotakis pressed his case in separate meetings with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., as well as the bipartisan, bicameral leaders of the foreign affairs committees, who can unilaterally block arms sales. Those meetings included coffee with Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., one of Turkey\u2019s staunchest opponents on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Menendez\u2019s less hardline counterparts recently signaled a cautious openness to greenlighting the F-16 sale for Turkey<\/a> given its support for Ukraine. But Ankara\u2019s recent threats to tank Sweden and Finland\u2019s bids for NATO membership have created uncertainty over whether those same lawmakers will allow the F-16 sale to proceed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTurkey has some explaining to do,\u201d House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., told Defense News. \u201cThey\u2019ve been doing the right thing \u2014 I think \u2014 to a large degree. That\u2019s important to me, but there\u2019s other things that I still have problems with that we need to have a dialogue and conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeks said that dialogue would include Turkish opposition to Swedish and Finnish NATO membership. Erdogan has accused both countries of supporting the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK), which Turkey designates a terrorist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Erdogan has demanded Sweden and Finland rescind an arms embargo on Ankara instated after Turkey\u2019s 2019 offensive against the northeast Syrian Kurdish-dominated administration with close ties to the PKK. Every country in NATO must consent to adding a new member to the alliance, allowing Turkey to unilaterally tank the bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, warned Erdogan\u2019s blockade of the two potential new NATO allies could sink the F-16 sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreece has been a very good ally with Ukraine, but then again so has Turkey,\u201d McCaul told Defense News. \u201cThe big hiccup with Turkey is when Erdogan came out indicating that he may not support Finland [and] Sweden being in NATO. That would be problematic for Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCaul suggested Turkey could ship its S-400 system to Ukraine, which has desperately sought advanced air defense systems against Russian aerial power. In return, he said the U.S. could send Turkey a Patriot missile system \u2014 an arrangement similar to the one Washington struck with Slovakia after it dispatched its S-300 system to Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He could have an opportunity to raise that prospect when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusgolu visits Washington on Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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