Greece is to decommission 32 old F-16 Block-30 fighter jets as it upgrades 82 F-16s to Block-70s and purchases 24 fourth-generation Rafale fighters from France. Greece plans to transfer the decommissioned F-16s to Ukraine, Qatar's Al Jazeera TV company reports, citing sources.
A US congressional committee has also authorised Greece to purchase up to 40 fifth-generation F-35 multi-role aircraft, which, according to the newspaper, Ukraine wanted.
One report said Ukraine could expect 60 decommissioned F-16s from Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands. Ukraine has said it needs about 150 aircraft. The 32 aircraft from Greece would close the gap to some extent.
According to sources who spoke to Al Jazeera, Greece's preferred formula for transferring these aircraft is to sell them back to the United States, which would upgrade them and hand them over to Kyiv.