Greece is weighing the purchase of additional F-35 fighter jets after 2030 instead of upgrading its fleet of 38 F-16 Block 50 aircraft, officials said Thursday, as negotiations with the US over the long-delayed modernization plan continue.
Athens is considering ordering eight to 12 more F-35 jets, on top of the 20 already under production for the Hellenic Air Force, with the first expected for delivery in 2028. Talks on the potential expansion of the F-35 fleet arose amid slow-moving discussions on the F-16 Block 50 upgrade, which have been under way for about five years.
Greek defense planners are concerned that completing the Block 50 modernization around 2031 or 2032 would result in another variant of an outdated F-16 platform. This risk is prompting a shift toward investing in more F-35 aircraft, which would offer advanced capabilities and a projected operational life of at least 50 years.
By the end of the decade, Greece expects to field 83 F-16 Viper jets, 40 of which have already been delivered, alongside its existing Rafale fighters. These Vipers would remain fully interoperable with the F-35 fleet, reducing the need for additional modernization work.
After protracted negotiations, US officials reportedly agreed that the F-16 Block 50 upgrade could be completed for about €900 million, less than half of the €1.9 billion originally discussed. Greece accepted Lockheed Martin’s condition that the work be carried out at Hellenic Aerospace Industry facilities rather than the 111 Combat Wing base in Nea Anchialos.
While Greece is likely to operate 30 to 32 F-35 jets by the mid-2030s, other US-built systems remain under review.
Athens is also prioritizing replacing its aging transport aircraft. Despite improvements to its fleet of American-made C-130H planes, they remain difficult to maintain. Greece is weighing the C-130J but increasingly favors the Brazilian-made Embraer C-390, already selected by several European Union countries, including Portugal, Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden.
Talks with Lisbon on a potential C-390 purchase are under way. Portugal operates its own C-390 fleet, and a bilateral agreement would be easier to finalize within a European framework, officials said.