[The World Through Weapons] Greece Buying 'F-35' Immediately After Graduating from IMF

F-35 fighter jet image [Image source: Lockheed Martin official website/www.lockheedmartin.com]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Greece, which has graduated from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) system after 10 years since the 2010 financial crisis, has expressed its intention to purchase F-35 fighter jets. The reason for wanting to buy despite just emerging from default and the expensive price and maintenance costs of the F-35 is presumed to be due to disputes with Turkey.

The F-35 was originally a model that Turkey had signed a purchase contract with the United States for, but the contract was canceled after the U.S. refused to deliver the fighter jets due to Turkey's import of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. Greece's introduction of the F-35 is analyzed as not only a simple military power enhancement but also a diplomatic move to exploit the rift between Turkey and the U.S.

In the meeting between President Donald Trump and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, disclosed by the White House on the 7th (local time), there was talk related to the purchase of the F-35. During the meeting, when reporters asked whether the F-35 would be sold to Greece, Prime Minister Mitsotakis said, "Greece is currently upgrading its F-16s, which is expected to be completed around 2023 to 2024, and Greece hopes to participate in the F-35 program after this upgrade."

The F-16V model is an upgraded fighter jet equipped with the latest electronic devices based on the F-16 fighter jet released in 1976. It is known to be more affordable compared to the latest U.S. fighter jets such as the F-35 and F-22, with maintenance costs estimated to be around 10%. Due to its popularity, it has a backlog of reserved orders from countries including Greece, as well as Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. [Image source=Lockheed Martin official website/www.lockheedmartin.com]

On the surface, Greece appears to be embarking on military expansion that had been postponed due to financial difficulties. At the end of last year, it signed a contract with the U.S. company Lockheed Martin to upgrade its F-16 fighter jets to the upgraded F-16V model. Greece plans to upgrade 84 out of its 150 F-16s, which is expected to cost about $1.5 billion.

However, the purchase of the F-35 is on a different scale in terms of price compared to the F-16 upgrade. Greece plans to introduce about 30 to 40 F-35s in the future. Although the manufacturer Lockheed Martin has lowered the price, the F-35 still costs $80 million (about 92.9 billion KRW) per unit, and the annual maintenance cost is $5.2 million (about 600 million KRW). The maintenance cost alone is ten times that of the older F-16.

Despite being an expensive weapon that is difficult for a country just emerging from default to afford, the Greek government's willingness to introduce it is strong. This is because Greece has rapidly grown closer to the U.S. after expressing its intention to purchase the F-35. The Trump administration originally had close ties with Turkey, and the F-35 had contracts to be sold to Turkey for more than 100 units, but the contract was canceled when the Turkish government decided to purchase the Russian S-400 system. Subsequently, the U.S. government announced plans to sell the F-35s that could not be delivered to Turkey to other European countries to expand sales channels.

The terrain around the Yellow Sea. Neither the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) delimitation nor the territorial boundaries of the large and small islands have been properly established. [Image source=Google Maps]

From the Greek government's perspective, the F-35 is seen not only as a means to strengthen military power but also as a diplomatic tool to exploit the rift between Turkey and the U.S. This also involves the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) delimitation issue linked among Turkey, Greece, and Libya. With the discovery of underwater oil fields in the Aegean Sea, the EEZ delimitation issue between Greece and Turkey has become contentious. In November last year, Turkey signed an EEZ delimitation agreement with Libya for the southern Aegean Sea area on the condition of deploying troops to Libya.

The Aegean Sea is a narrow sea where the international standard for EEZ delimitation of 200 nautical miles is not met, so the issue must be resolved through negotiations between the parties involved. However, the two countries have never properly negotiated EEZ delimitation or maritime boundary lines in the Aegean Sea. This is because Turkey and Greece have been bitter enemies since Greece's independence in 1829. After World War I, the two countries fought separately, with Turkey occupying territories near Istanbul and Greece occupying islands in the Aegean Sea, engaging in battles. Even as recently as 2006, there was a firefight. Greek and Turkish fighter jets collided over the Aegean Sea, resulting in the death of one Greek pilot.

The irony is that the fighter jets involved from both countries at that time were both F-16s. The F-16 is a fighter jet sold over 4,000 units worldwide and widely used as the main fighter jet of developing countries, which led to this incident. If Turkey resolves the S-400 issue with the U.S. and resumes purchasing the F-35, there might be another confrontation between the two countries using fighter jets from the same manufacturer, Lockheed Martin.