France Orders 12 Rafale Fighters to Replace Aircraft Sold to Greece, Dassault Aviation Says

15:55 GMT, 29 January 2021

CC BY-SA 2.0 / Sam Wise / French Navy Aeronavale Rafale M

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The French government has place an order with the Paris-based Dassault Aviation aircraft manufacturer for the purchase of 12 new Rafale fighter jets to replace the second-hand planes sold to Greece earlier, the company said on Friday.

Sputnik

"Eric Trappier, Chairman and CEO of Dassault Aviation, today signed a contract for the sale of 12 Rafale aircraft with Florence Parly, French Minister of the Armed Forces. These aircraft will replace the 12 Rafales of the French Air and Space Force (FASF) sold to the Hellenic Air Force [Greek military air forces]", the company's statement read.

It noted that the deal was signed during the minister's visit to a company production plant in the southeastern French Haute-Savoie department.

The 2.5-billion-euro (over $3 billion) deal between the Defence Ministries of France and Greece for the purchase of 18 Rafale fighter jets from French arms manufacturers was signed on 25 January. Notably, 12 of the jets sold earlier to Greece are second-hand while the rest are brand new.