this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2024
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The US plans to sell as many as 40 F-35 jets to Greece and will also gift the country various defense equipment, according to a letter sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The move comes as the US State Department said Friday that it had approved the long-delayed sale of F-16 warplanes to Turkey in a delicately orchestrated arrangement with Ankara supporting Sweden’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In addition to the sale of the F-35 jets, the US plans to give Greece two C-130H aircrafts, 10 engines for P-3 aircrafts and 60 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles for free from its excess defense articles.

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[–] BilboBargains@lemmy.world 22 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Who needs healthcare and public services when you have F-35 out the wazoo

[–] Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world 20 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Have you ever seen what a few stealth jets armed with AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles can do to some Cancer cells? Those little fuckers have no chance.

[–] drbluefall@toast.ooo 4 points 8 months ago

I mean, yes... but a handgun does the job just as well.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 14 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

We'll sell you 40 F35 and a free gift, so that you can defend against the 40 F16s that we sold to your enemy last week (as well as upgrades to 79 of them that they already had

[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

I wonder if this certainly sophisticated sale will then again finance frozen aid to Ukraine and Israel, thus elegantly MIC-handling the Mediterranean and Black seas past dysfunctional/democratic US-American Washington. /s

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The F16/ to turkey was quid pro quo for Turkey to let ~~Finland~~ Sweden into nato. Which of course made the Greeks unhappy, so we sold them weapons so they weren’t unhappy and could defend against Turkish aggression. It also makes them a more capable ally.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I believe it was for Turkey to let Sweeden in not Finland. They had already accepted Finland. Non the less, selling weapons to both sides of a conflict is generally seen as bad practice

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

~~This is the sale to Greece to make them less mad. The sale to Turkey was a while ago.~~

The despots are currently extracting their pound of flesh for Sweden.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 1 points 8 months ago

Oh, huh - thanks for the source and being correct!

What did we sell them last time?

[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 8 points 8 months ago (1 children)

40 F-35s seems excessive for a country the size of Greece. Those things are not cheap.

[–] maynarkh@feddit.nl 8 points 8 months ago

They are in conflict with Turkey over Cyprus. Greece and Turkey thus have outsized militaries compared to the rest of the region.

[–] TimeNaan@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Great, more F-16s for turkey so it can bomb the Kurds better!

[–] stevehobbes@lemy.lol 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

It was the price of getting ~~Finland~~ Sweden into NATO unfortunately.

[–] IndustryStandard@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Everyone is getting new planes. This must mean they are upgrading their old fleet to new environment friendly electric jets!