Greece offered to buy the F-35 in installments

The possibility of widespread use of installment payment, a financing tool for the purchase of American weapons systems, which, however, was not sufficiently used by Athens in the past, has recently been resurfaced as a result of negotiations between the Department of National Defense and the Pentagon.

Although these contacts are mainly of a military nature, it is gradually becoming clearer that through the so-called FMF (foreign military funding) will allow Greece to purchase equipment needed by the armed forces and that it can eventually be returned. The return to FMF programs after a hiatus of nearly thirty years is being done in such a way that both sides can work together without causing diplomatic repercussions.

According to the publication “cathimeriniFMF discussions involve funding (through a mixed loan and grant system) for amounts that could even reach $8 billion in the long run, with very intensive discussions 2.3 of which are already underway.

In the case of loans, they will be provided at low interest rates and can reach a maturity of up to 13 years. In the case of grants, that is, the free provision of auxiliary or other systems, this will be done in such a way as not to violate the status of Greece in the ranking of countries with which the Pentagon cooperates.

What does this mean? After the conclusion of the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and the transformation of the EEC into EUthe “Greece” dossier was automatically moved to the American box among the dossiers of other developed countries, and therefore grants or even donations of systems could not continue in the way that, for example, is done today for states such as Egypt.

The diplomatic aspect of this discussion concerns the modus operandi, as no precedent should be set for other countries in the club of developed EU countries, but there should also be no question of unequal treatment of other allied countries such as Turkey. With every possible combination currently being played out in the US as to what the situation will be like after the May 15 elections in Turkey, it’s pretty clear that every little thing is going into the equation.

Since July
These contacts actually began in July 2022 with Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Konstantin Floros visiting the State Department and meeting with Under Secretary of State for Civil and Military Affairs Jessica Lewis, following active mediation by Greek Ambassador to Washington Alexandra Papadopoulou. Mr. Floros has played a catalytic role and these discussions have continued in recent weeks with a view to achieving results in the next few weeks.

The question is what can be covered in this way. Clearly, there are at least two Lockheed Martin programs that could be included in the FMF. One of them concerns the F-35 fifth-generation fighter (a letter of acceptance is expected to be received early next month, while Athens has not yet decided whether it wants the domestic defense industry to take part in it). As Kathimerini has already pointed out in extensive reports, it remains to be decided before the talks between Athens and the Americans begin soon whether clauses on additional resources (in the form of manufacturer benefits for the national defense industry) will be activated, which will be used for infrastructure, especially in regarding secret networks and cyber defense.

The second question concerns the Black Hawk helicopters, which are considered by the GNAF to be a reliable solution capable of meeting the needs of all branches of the military, which are served by helicopters of previous years of production. However, at the moment there are still some objections from ΓΕΑ in this regard, which will be clarified in the near future.

UAV
Among the programs likely to be carried out through the FMF could be US MQ-9 UAVs such as those stationed in Larissa. It is worth noting that in this case, the MQ-9 will enter the armed forces not as an offensive weapon, but as reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles performing surveillance operations similar to those already performed by Israeli HERON-type UAVs of the Israeli Air Force from Skyros. The FMF programs also allow the user to purchase systems manufactured by third countries, provided that the US participates in them either as a co-manufacturer or as a sponsor. In this case, Athens wants FMF to be involved in the procurement of highly accurate and highly effective anti-aircraft systems, such as Israel’s “Iron Dome”, in which the American state has been investing money by decision of Congress since 2010, and in recent years there has been synergy between Israeli manufacturers and American companies.

Funding through the FMF program should not be confused with the sale of used equipment that the Greek Armed Forces already receive from the US through the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) process, and mainly for old American systems to be decommissioned, which are simply donated at zero or minimal cost to Allied countries, the latest example of which is the possible receipt of M2A2 Bradley Armored Fighting Vehicles (TOMA).

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