Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Minister of National Defence Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the Chief of the General Staff of National Defence (GEETHANOS) Floros, the Chief of the General Staff of the Hellenic Air Force (GAF), Rear Admiral Georgios Blioumis and the French Ambassador to Athens, Patrick Mezonav attended the ceremony in Tanagra.
The first six Rafale
fighter jets of the Air Force land in Tanagra today, Wednesday, January 19. The
French fighters depart from Istria, France, for the 114th Battle Wing. Two of
the six Rafale that Greece received today are two-seater to be used for the
training of cadets, while the other four are single-seater. The training of
eight Greek pilots and 50 aircraft technicians has already been completed,
which took place at the Meriniak base on French soil by personnel of the
construction company Dassault.
Athens signed a
contract with Paris a year ago, worth around 2.5 billion euros, to deliver 18
Rafale – 12-second hand and six new planes. It then announced in September 2021
the purchase of six additional aircraft to strengthen its defence and its
partnership with France. Greece will procure 24 Rafale fighter jets at a total
cost of 3.3 billion euros.
The aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation delivered the first used Rafale to Greece in July 2021, taken from the French Air Force fleet like the 11 others to come.
For France, the
Franco-Greek contract represents the first sale of the Rafale in Europe. At the
end of May, Croatia followed with 12 used aircraft. The United Arab Emirates
(80 aircraft), Qatar (36 aircraft), Egypt (54) and India (36) are the other
international Rafale customers.
The Rafale fighters
have a range of 2,800 miles and a large fuel capacity, two engines, are
equipped with modern and powerful electronic scanning radar, and can carry two
Exocet air to surface anti-ship missiles.
