"It's a pleasing trip, we are enjoying our pleasure", welcomes Florence Parly in the government Falcon 7X which takes her this Monday morning to Athens.
The Minister of the Armed Forces deploys in the cabin the navy blue leather aviator jacket that she is about to offer to her Greek counterpart, Nikos Panayotopoulos.
It is with him that she will sign in the Hellenic capital, flanked by the leaders of Dassault aviation and the missile manufacturer MBDA, a mega contract of 2.5 billion euros for the sale of 18 Rafale, including six new aircraft. and twelve used (besides the planes, the deal includes their armament and the training of the Greek Air Force).
"This is a major step, the first export of this hunter to Europe," says Parly.
A choice that is both military and political for Greece, which plays on European preference and advances common defense ”.
Until now, the aircraft manufacturer had sold its fighter, flagship of the Air Force, only to Egypt, India and Qatar.
Turkey threatens, Greece arms itself
In addition, this contract was concluded at lightning speed, in barely four months (whereas it usually takes years of negotiation), during which the Minister had her counterpart on the phone "at least once. per week ”, fine-tuning the smallest details.
The tension in the eastern Mediterranean, where Erdogan's Turkey is increasing its provocations (overflights by hunters, incursions by warships, etc.) and claiming underwater wealth in hydrocarbons in Cypriot and Greek waters, has obviously weighed down.
No leader in the world plays as much on the balance of power as Erdogan, notes a strategic expert.
As a result, on January 14, barely 30 votes (out of 300 deputies) opposed the Vouli (Parliament) to this purchase.
"We have a belligerent neighbor, eight times more populated and with a powerful army, this threat is more of a concern to the public than the Covid-19 pandemic", confides an Athenian journalist.
So much so that the country, on the verge of bankruptcy ten years ago, is quadrupling its military spending and extending the length of its national service.
"To pay the Rafale, Greece borrows on the markets, with which it has found a lot of credit thanks to its budgetary efforts", explains one in the French delegation.
Thanks to the 18 Rafale, and above all to their overpowered weaponry of Meteor long-range air-to-air missiles (built by a consortium of European countries), "Greece will regain air superiority over the Turkish F-16s", assures a senior French officer .
The first six second-hand fighters, taken from the Air Force fleet, will be delivered next summer, with Greek pilots and mechanics due to arrive in Bordeaux soon to be trained by Dassault.
"They already know the house from having been equipped with Mirage F1 then 2000", specifies General Philippe Lavigne, Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Space.
New Rafale for the French army
Problem, the French pilots will be "relieved" by 2022 of twelve aircraft, in an already tense context in terms of training and OPEX (external operations) in the Levant and the Sahel.
The solution ?
“First, to increase the availability of planes, by increasing the acquisition of parts (electronics, weapons, equipment, etc.) to be able to fly more and compensate for these losses, argues the military cabinet of Florence Parly.
Then, new Rafale will be ordered by the State from Dassault
(Editor's note: whose assembly lines currently produce one aircraft per month)
”.
The 400 million euros from the sale of 12 second-hand planes will also be allocated to the Air Force.
In the sights of the discreet Florence Parly, who could soon make pale the reputation of super-VRP of the French armament of her predecessor Jean-Yves Le Drian: Croatia, which would be tempted by Rafale and Greece, again, which also wants to equip itself with four new frigates.
