Greece has been a member of NATO since
1952, and has played an important role in defending NATO's southern flank. However, Greece
has been involved in a long-term rivalry with its neighbor Turkey over territorial rights
in the Agean and in particular over the status of Cyprus. Consequently, arms supplied to
Greece and Turkey have often been directed more against each other rather than against
Soviet expansion.
It has often been the case that it was
felt necessary to supply the same weapons at the same time to both Greece and Turkey in
order to prevent any force inbalances from developing between these two rivals. Shortly
after Turkey announced its plans to purchase F-16s, in November of 1984, Greece announced
that it was going to acquire 34 F-16C and six F-16D fighters to replace the F-5A Freedom
Fighter. The formal agreement was finally signed in January 1987 after years of protracted
haggling over price and the repeated expression of worries on the part of the US about the
danger of technology transfer to the Warsaw Pact.
The F-16s for Greece were delivered under
the Peace Xenia FMS program. The F-16C/Ds were Block 30 aircraft powered by the
General Electric F110-GE-100 turbofan. The first F-16D for the Elliniki Aeroporia
(Hellenic Air Force) was handed over at Fort Worth on November 18, 1988, with the first
F-16C being handed over later that same month. The initial batch was delivered between
November 1988 and October 1989. Crew training initially took place in the United States,
with the first aircraft arriving in Greece at the Nea Ankhialos air base in January of
1989.
The 111th Pterix (Wing) at Nea Ankhialos
operates two Mira (roughly equivalent to a squadron) equipped with the F-16--the 330
"Keraunos" and the 346 "Jason". Mira 346 acts as the F-16 conversion
unit and has all the F-16Ds. The Greek F-16 are fitted with an identification light on the
starboard side of the aircraft's nose and they have a braking parachute housed inside an
enlarged fairing extending rearwards from the base of the vertical tail.
In April of 1993, General Dynamics
received an additional order from Greece for 32 more F-16CG fighters and 8 more F-16DG
two-seaters. These were to be Block 50, and were scheduled for delivery from early 1997.
They were to replace the last remaining Northrop F-5s serving with 341, 343, and 349 Mira.
These new F-16s were powered by the General Electric F110-GE-129 increased performance
engine. The new Block 50 F-16s were LANTIRN capable--some 24 LANTIRN navigation pods and
16 targeting pods were also ordered. This makes the Greek Block 50s different from the
USAF Block 50s, which are not normally LANTIRN-capable. In addition, AMRAAM missiles were
acquired.
The first Block 50 F-16C for Greece was
formally accepted in May of 1997. They are intended for 347 Mira (which was formerly an
A-7H unit) to be based at Larissa and 349 Mira Anakhethisis Imeras, which is currently
operating R/F-5A/Bs out of Larissa but will eventually transfer to Nea Ankhialos.
On March 10, 2000, the Greek government
signed a Letter of Offer and Acceptance for 34 single seat and 16 two-seat F-16 Block 50+
aircraft. The new F-16s will have conformal fuel tanks and an upgraded APG-68(V)XM radar.
Greece had been interested in buying the more powerful General Electric F110-GE-132 or
P&W F100-PW-232 Enhanced Fighter Engines, but this request was denied by the US
government because the engines were still under development. On June 1, 2000 it was
announced that the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 turbofan had been selected as the
powerplant. The lower thrust of these engines will give the Greek Block 50+ aircraft a
performance some 12 percent lower than the Block 30 F-16s they already have. The Block 50+
aircraft will be AMRAAM-capable. Delivery will begin in 2002 and will continue until 2004.
Greek F-16s were acquired through the
Foreign Military Sales program and are assigned USAF serial numbers for administrative
purposes. They carry the last three digits of their USAF serial numbers on their tails.
Serials of Greek Air Force F-16s:
88-0110/0111 General Dynamics F-16C Block 30H Fighting Falcon
for Greece as 110/111, Peace Xenia
88-0112/0123 General Dynamics F-16C Block 30J Fighting Falcon
For Greece as 112/123, Peace Xenia
88-0124/0139 General Dynamics F-16C Block 30K Fighting Falcon
For Greece as 124/139, Peace Xenia
88-0140/0143 General Dynamics F-16C Block 30L Fighting Falcon
For Greece as 140/143, Peace Xenia
88-0144/0147 General Dynamics F-16D Block 30H Fighting Falcon
For Greece as 144/147, Peace Xenia
88-0148/0149 General Dynamics F-16D Block 30J Fighting Falcon
For Greece as 148/149, Peace Xenia
93-1045/1076 Lockheed Martin F-16C Block 50D Fighting Falcon
c/n TC-1/TC-32. To Greece as 045/076
93-1077/1084 Lockheed Martin F-16D Block 50D Fighting Falcon
c/n TD-1/TD-8. To Greece as 077/084
Sources:
- Combat Aircraft F-16, Doug Richardson,
Crescent, 1992.
- General Dynamics Aircraft and their
Predecessors, John Wegg, Naval Institute Press, 1990.
- The American Fighter, Enzo Angelucci and
Peter Bowers, Orion, 1987.
- United States Military Aircraft Since
1909, Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.
- F-16 Fighting Falcon--A Major Review of
the West's Universal Warplane, Robert F. Dorr, World Airpower Journal, Spring 1991.
- The World's Great Interceptor Aircraft,
Gallery, 1989.
- Modern Military Aircraft--F-16 Viper, Lou
Drendel, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.
- Lockheed F-16 Variants, Part 1, World
Airpower Journal, Volume 21, Summer 1995.
- Continental NATO Air Forces, Paul Jackson,
World Airpower Journal, Volume 1, Spring 1990.
- Modern Military Aircraft--F-16 Viper, Lou
Drendel, Squadron/Signal Publications, 1992.
- Lockheed Martin F-16 Operators, Part 2,
Peter R. Foster, World Airpower Journal, Volume 24, Spring 1996.
- Air Forces Monthly News, July 1997.
- Air Forces Monthly News, May 2000.
- Airscene, Air International, July 2000
- Air Forces Monthly News, August 2000
