Greece in talks with Lockheed Martin to decrease modernisation cost of its F-16 jets

Greece is in talks with the US defence company Lockheed Martin to decrease the skyrocketing cost of the modernisation of its F-16 jets, according to media reports on Wednesday.

The talks about the modernisation of 38 F-16 Block 50 jets to the latest Viper configuration started earlier this week in Athens. They are taking place between representatives of the company and senior officials of the Greek Air Force, reported the daily Kathimerini.

Greece initially estimated the cost at around $800 million, but a US letter of understanding valued the programme at $1.5 billion, it noted.

According to Kathimerini, the parties could reach an initial agreement of about $900m by skipping some of the systems originally requested by the Greek Air Force.

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