The neighbours will turn the world upside down to show that the Turkish Air Force is not inferior to the Greek Air Force.
Turkish media reported that "to avoid the weakness of the Turkish Air Force, the country plans to add 40 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to its force in 2026, about two years before Greece acquires the 5th generation F-35 fighter jets in 2028.
Greece had ordered 24 Rafale fighter jets from France. Athens submitted a request to the US for 24 F-35 aircraft in late 2019.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said: "We will receive the first F-35s in 2028," the article said.
What the Turks are seeking with a move that has not yet been approved by Germany, a co-producer of the Eurofighter
The Turkish Air Force has 244 F-16 aircraft of Block 30, Block 40 and Block 50 level.
"If the US approves the sale of 40 F-16s and 79 Block 70-level modernization kits, the number of Block 70-level aircraft will reach 119.
However, even if the sale of 40 US aircraft were allowed, there is a possibility that these aircraft, produced in the US, would take a long time to reach Turkey.
By choosing to add 40 Eurofighter Typhoons to its air force in two batches, Turkey aims to close the vulnerability that could arise from Greece's possession of F-35 and Rafale aircraft.
The Eurofighter Typhoon is capable of launching Meteor-Beyond Visible air-to-air missiles.
The Meteor missile that Greece also uses on its Rafale aircraft has a range of 200 km.Turkey lags behind in this range with the air-to-air missile capability of its F-16 fleet.
The Turkish Air Force plans to balance this strength acquired by Greece in air-to-air combat scenarios by having the Meteor missile, with Eurofighter aircraft equipped with it.
The procurement of Eurofighter aircraft was one of the important items on the agenda of the meeting held in Ankara on November 23 with Defense Minister Yasar Güler and British Defense Minister Grant Sharps, who came to Turkey as his official guest.
According to the schedule, Turkey will procure 40 latest model Eurofighter fighters in two batches, 20 + 20.
According to information received by Milliyet newspaper, the first batch of aircraft will be delivered soon.
Training of fighter pilots and ground maintenance crew before and after flight will also be completed within 2 years.
Thus, Eurofihter aircraft are planned to be actively included in the air force fleet in 2026.
With this design, Turkey will thwart Greece's scenario of establishing temporary air superiority, which Athens is planning with Rafale and F-35 warplanes, especially from 2028," the article concludes.
We want a second Rafale squadron
Greece wants a second squadron of French aircraft to offset any Turkish effort to acquire Eurofihter aircraft.
We're talking about aircraft that will clash in the Aegean with Turkish aircraft in any war scenario, and which will do the dirty work along with the F-16Vs against Turkish concentrations, radars, and mobile ballistic missile batteries on the Asia Minor coast.
The Rafale further improves the balance of air power in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, as it increases the PA's ability to operate at a greater range and threaten Turkish fighters remotely, before they are even detected by the neighbor's air force.
One of the advantages of this aircraft is that, it is capable of carrying a variety of advanced weapons with an arsenal of payloads up to 9 tons.
The Rafale's great asset, apart from its electronics, is the number of weapons it can launch, the first of course being the Meteor air-to-air missile. It is state-of-the-art, and even the French Air Force has taken delivery of it in the last year and a half. It goes very far, at high speed and engages targets at multiple distances than ordinary missiles.
The Rafale is also capable of carrying short- and medium-range MICA air-to-air missiles for interceptor operations. It is an air-to-air missile with IR (thermal seeker) and EM (active radar seeker) versions. This missile can be used to engage targets within visible range (WVR) and beyond visible range (BVR).
Then there are the standard HAMMER (Highly Agile and Manoeuvrable Munition Extended Range) precision air-to-ground bombs. The 250-1000 kg bombs are equipped with INS/GPS, INS/GPS/IIR (infrared imaging) or INS/GPS/laser guidance kits at the front, with a range increase kit at the rear.
In addition, there are long-range SCALP missiles, AM39 EXOCET anti-ship missiles, laser guided bombs with various warheads, conventional unguided bombs, and a 30mm NEXTER 30M791 30mm cannon.
Importantly, the Rafale's interoperability in the weapons sector is ensured by the Mil-Std-1760 compliant weapons management system, which provides easy integration of weapons of the customer's choice.
Dassault reports that, the fighter is capable of performing multiple actions simultaneously, such as launching an air-to-air missile during the phase of penetrating enemy airspace at extremely low altitudes: clear evidence of its true multi-mission capabilities as well as its exceptional survivability.
