U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks at Pnyx Hill, where ancient Athenians held democratic assemblies, in Athens, Greece, on October 7. (AP Photo)
The U.S. and Greece announced $4 billion in Foreign Military Sales to support Athens’ long-term defense plans as the two countries pledged on Oct. 7 to deepen security and economic cooperation.
The announcement came after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis presided over the sixth U.S.-Greece Strategic Dialogue in Athens.
The two sides said the military sales would support Greece’s defense plans and deepen interoperability, while they would also explore further cooperation between their defense industries, including in innovative technologies.
According to the Greek media, around $1.2 billion of the package will be allocated to the procurement of missiles and precision-guided bombs for use by the Greek Air Force’s existing F-16 fleet and the 20 F-35 fighter jets that Greece is scheduled to begin receiving from the end of 2029.
Another key component of the agreement is the modernization of Greece’s F-16 fleet. Greece will pay $1 billion to upgrade 37 F-16 Block 50 fighter jets in its inventory to the Viper configuration.
Athens currently operates 83 F-16 Viper aircraft, and the modernization program is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027.
In an interview with Kathimerini, Rubio said Rubio described the prospect of a conflict between Türkiye and Greece as “unimaginable.”
“To me, [a Greek-Turkish crisis] would be unimaginable. It wouldn’t be good for either Turkey or Greece, but it also wouldn’t be good for the United States. It is something we could never allow to happen,”
he said.
He also said that the U.S. would engage in diplomatic efforts to prevent a potential crisis over the Cyprus interconnector cable project.
