Ordered from France by Greece last year, the first six Rafale fighter planes, refurbished second-hand aircraft, landed on the Greek military base in Tanagra on Wednesday.
Faced with recurring tensions with Turkey, Greece signed a contract with Paris a year ago, worth around 2.5 billion euros, for the delivery of 18 Rafale – 12 used and six nines. In September 2021, Greece announced the purchase of six additional aircraft to strengthen its defense and its partnership with France.
Three additional frigates
The decision to negotiate with Paris was taken in September 2020 by Athens in response to Turkey’s gas explorations and its shows of force in disputed waters with Greece and Cyprus. France then sided demonstratively with Athens and sent Rafales and warships in the face of the deployment of Turkish military and prospecting vessels.
In addition to the Franco-Greek contract on the Rafale, there is an order by Athens for three defense and intervention frigates (FDI), for an amount of some three billion euros.
Full order book for Dassault Aviation
The three frigates (baptized Belharra for export) will be built in France by Naval Group, to be delivered to the Greek navy in 2025 and 2026. The agreement also covers an optional fourth frigate. For France, the Franco-Greek contract represents the first sale of the Rafale in Europe. At the end of May, Croatia followed with an order for 12 used aircraft.
The United Arab Emirates (80 aircraft), Qatar (36 aircraft), Egypt (54) and India (36) are the other international Rafale customers. The aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation already delivered a first used Rafale to Greece in July 2021, taken from the French Air Force fleet like the 11 others to come.
