BREAKING NEWS: Israel exposed Greece's '2036 plan'! Remarkable Türkiye detail: '4 billion dollar message'

MİLLİYET.COM.TR / While Greece was knocking on the door of the USA for a billion-dollar arms deal, a remarkable comment came to the fore in the Israeli press.

'4 MILLION DOLLAR MESSAGE'

Tel Aviv-based Maariv discussed the agreement worth up to 4 billion dollars in the shadow of the tensions with Türkiye and interpreted Athens' armament move as a "4 million dollar message to Ankara".

According to the Israeli press, the value of the agreement reached by Athens with the USA to strengthen its defense capacity reaches up to 4 billion dollars.

'NEW RING'

The news said, "The agreement package in question includes the modernization of F-16 warplanes as well as the supply of advanced missiles and bombs. The agreement, which came to the agenda immediately after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to Athens, became the new link of Greece's long-term armament program."

The news claimed that the Greek government aims to renew its military capacity in a wide range of areas, from the air force to air defense, by spreading its defense expenditures over the years, and claimed that "Athens' plans include not only new weapon purchases, but also a comprehensive military structuring in which systems supplied from different countries will be used together."

'OVER 100 F-16 VIPER TARGETS'

According to Maariv, one of the prominent topics of the agreement is Greece's plan to modernize its F-16 fleet. While Athens upgrades approximately 82 F-16 fighter jets to the Viper configuration, it aims to modernize another 37 Block 50 type aircraft. The cost of this second program is expected to be approximately $1 billion.

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias previously stated that his country will have more than 100 F-16 Viper fighter jets upon completion of the modernization program.

Athens' plan is not limited to F-16s. Greece also reached an agreement to purchase 20 US-made F-35 fighter jets and 35 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters in 2024. Along with the new weapons package, the supply of advanced missiles and bombs also stands out as part of Greece's plan to improve its military capacity.

THEY DRAW ATTENTION TO 2036

While it was stated in the news that the agreement with the USA was not independent of Greece's more comprehensive defense structure, it was stated that "Athens plans to renew its warplanes, helicopters and air defense systems within the scope of the program that envisages investing approximately 28 billion euros until 2036. One of the important parts of this structuring is the multi-layered air and missile defense system called 'Achilles Shield'. The project aims to improve the defense capacity against different threats, from unmanned aerial vehicles to aircraft and ballistic missiles."

'THERE IS ISRAEL IN THE BACKGROUND'

On the other hand, the news stated that Israel was also included in the background of Greece's goals in this field, and stated that "By including Israeli-produced weapons and defense systems in the project, Athens is trying to establish a structure that brings together military technologies of US, French and Israeli origin."

TURKEY'S DOMESTIC DEFENSE MOVE

However, the news noted that Greece's multibillion-dollar arms procurement program came to the fore in a regional competitive environment where domestic production and technology development targets in Turkey's defense industry come to the fore, and said, "Turkey's defense capacity is shaped not only by the platforms in its inventory, but also by its ability to develop its own technology, produce critical systems and offer these products to international markets. Turkey is developing its own defense technologies in a wide range of areas, from unmanned aerial vehicles to air defense systems, from naval platforms to national warplane development efforts. Unmanned aerial vehicles such as Bayraktar TB2 and AKINCI "HİSAR and SİPER air defense projects, KAAN national combat aircraft program and KIZILELMA unmanned combat aircraft are among the prominent examples of this transformation."

THEY LISTED ONE BY ONE

While it is emphasized in the news that one of the important topics of this transformation is the ability of different defense systems to work together, "The development of aircraft, radars, electronic systems, ammunition and air defense elements as a whole reveals that modern military capacity cannot be measured only by the features of a single platform. Therefore, Greece's purchase of new weapons from the USA does not make it sufficient to evaluate Turkey's defense capacity only on the purchased platforms. The military structures of the two countries; current inventory, modernization programs, ammunition capacity, air defense, "It requires addressing under different headings such as operational integration and domestic production capabilities."

'TURKS CONTINUE WITHOUT SLOWING'