Greece could transfer up to 32 F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, according to Greek media, as Kyiv waits frustratedly for the first of the Western-made jets to arrive in the coming weeks.
It is "almost certain" that Athens will transfer the fast jets to Kyiv, the Greek edition of Newsbreak reported, adding Ukraine could also receive 24 French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets.
Greece is undergoing what it has called a "radical" overhaul of its armed forces, prioritizing a thorough reassessment of its air force.
"We have a cartload of different types of aircraft," Greek Defense Minister, Nikos Dendias, told Greek television late last month. "We have F-4s, Mirage 2000-5s, Block 30 F-16s, Block 50 F-16s, Block 52 F-16s, Viper F-16s and Rafales. We cannot carry on this way."
"The Mirage 2000-5 is an exceptionally capable plane and can be sold," Dendias said. "The Block 30 F-16s need to be sold."
Newsweek has reached out to the Greek Defense Ministry for comment via email.
Kyiv has long clamored for Western-made fighter jets to boost its ability to contest Russia's superior fleet, and the Lockheed Martin-made F-16s possess modern avionics and radars.
But Ukraine's Western backers were slow to promise F-16s, a deeper commitment than military aid packages featuring supplies like artillery systems or even tanks. Although several countries—Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium—ultimately committed to providing the jets to Ukraine last year, exact timelines for their arrival have remained opaque and subject to change.
The first jets were slated to arrive in the first part of 2024, but the Dutch government announced in January that Ukraine would receive an initial batch of F-16s in the "second quarter" of the year. And before the jets take off in Ukraine, Western countries say, Ukrainian personnel must complete their training programs, and the necessary infrastructure and facilities must be up and running in the country.
"All Ukrainians are waiting for the day when the first Ukrainian F-16s will appear in our skies," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in February.
The dragging schedule has long worked against Ukraine, experts have said. Earlier this month, an anonymous Ukrainian senior military officer told Politico that "F-16s were needed in 2023; they won't be right for 2024."
Experts suggested to Newsweek last week that the number of fighter jets Ukraine will operate is too small to make a strategic difference across the entire front line, and Russia has likely made use of the months since the donations of the jets were unveiled to prepare.
Once the jets arrive, they will be an "absolute magnet for Russian air defenses and Russian aircraft," said Frank Ledwidge, senior lecturer in Law and War Studies at Portsmouth University in the U.K. and a former British military intelligence officer.
"A single system can't change the situation on the battlefield," NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Bild last week. "This isn't a silver bullet that could change the course of the war."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
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