I disagree with this, I wouldn't mess with Rafale, I would go straight for F 35, you get much more bang for your buck. French frigates also seem unreasonably expensive. I don't get the fascination with the French products here.
I think what's happening is that these decisions are being taken on political grounds. Greece isn't really buying French weapons, Greece is buying French support. Which is a valid strategy don't get me wrong but it reminds me of Arabs buying American tanks planes etc. for American support. You're opening the gates for imperialism here.
When it comes to the F-35,the government seems obsessed with buying a squadron ASAP. They even asked for simulators already. And they want to buy a second squadron much later.
When it comes to the F-35,just like in Turkey,there are Greeks who support it and Greeks who hate it. I guess in Turkey most loved it,until the S-400 and the sanctions,when half started mocking it and saying "we'll make the TFX now".
When it comes to the French deals...hmm. You got a point there. During the 2019-2020 crisis in the Aegean and Mediterranean and Evros...the only country that supported us was France. And I mean,not just with words,they gave us Rafale so fast,nobody expected it. They sent ships here,they were willing to cooperate with us for the Navy etc. So you're right,the decision was largely political. Not that the French don't make good stuff,they make some of the best weapons out there,we all know it! But like you said,they are very expensive and the French tend to be...you know..."Frenchy",like Eddie Izzard said
The FDI frigates had initially a crazy price. We managed to lower it after 1-2 years of negotiations and after bringing in other countries. The competition became so big,the French couldn't afford to lose it. Still,now many kind of regret it,as the ships lack a few vital things. You see,the French had designed the FDI as a successor to the La Fayette class,so it lacked a lot of things. We had to ask for 32 Aster-30 and a CIWS. And from what many sources say,it lacks an ECM and IRIST as well as a few other things. The reason is that the French said they wanted to develop a modern ECM just for the FDI...but who's gonna pay for that now if they don't install it and we're the only ones buying it? And when will it be ready? That's why we might have another ECM installed. Their SETIS CMS is rumored to be "very closed" as a system,unlike TACTICOS and some say it also lacks link16 (although that can be fixed easily I guess).
If some of the problems are fixed,then they will be great ships. They will be state-of-the-art frigates.
But...after that the French thought they won the whole race and started being tough on the corvette offer as well. They offered the Gowind and little yielding to our demands for more ToT and Greek companies participation...so we put Italy in the game and the French reconsidered
Eh,what can you do?
Which is another reason Why I don't support the belligerent stance of AKP administration. The more you scare Greece with threats, the more they are going to side with imperial powers.
It's funny because you hear Akar going like this:
One day he says "Greeks are arming themselves",the next he says "No matter how many weapons you buy,you can't defeat Turkey". Then he goes back to nagging "Greece is arming",then we're like...you guys have been making all that stuff,then they reply "That's not for Greece,we have other enemies",tamam ama most of the maps showing the capabilities of the ballistic missiles and AA systems are pointed towards Greece
Not Russia,not Iran,not Syria,not even Israel.
We have Rafales ..we are stronger than Turkiye , end of Turkiye
what a useless daydreamer nation
I said a few Rafale can't win a war. You probably didn't read it or ignored it. As you always do.
You need to learn how to listen and understand someone,when you discuss. Of course,you don't want to discuss. You just want an audience to read your bull and clap.
