By Ahmet Gencturk
ANKARA (AA) - Athens and Washington discussed replacing some of Greece’s Russian-made military inventory with US-made counterparts, media reports said Wednesday.
The proposal to replace the Russian weapons systems came from Washington and the idea received a positive response, said the Kathimerini newspaper.
The proposal mainly covers the S-300 long-range air defense systems, based in Crete, and the Tor SA-15 short-range air defense systems.
Kathimerini noted that the purchase of the US systems would be materialized through the Foreign Military Funding (FMF) mechanism.
Greece wants to modernize its helicopter fleet by phasing out older UH-1 models and replacing them with the newer S-70 Blackhawks – again, through the FMF.
Greece utilizes the US-made Patriot and Hawk missiles, the Russian-made S-300 and SA-15 as well as the French-made Crotale air defense systems.