Rapid developments take place in the Turkish Air Force (THK), which also concern the balance of power with Greece.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense sent a Letter of Request (LoR) to the American government for the acquisition of 40 new F-16C/D Block 70 Viper fighter aircraft as well as the modernization of a total of 80 existing Turkish F-16s to the Viper standard.

It is a move coming obviously after the developments in the Greek Armed Forces (F-16 upgrade, Rafales, Belh@rra frigates, defense agreement with France) and as a reaction aiming at maintaining a balance in the aviation sector.

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On the other hand, it is an attempt to re-approach the USA, the final decision of which is of great interest to Greece given that Athens and Washington are negotiating the renewal of the MDCA agreement. Will the US accept the request and what will they ask in return, given the presence of S-400s in Turkey and the relevant US sanctions? Will they refuse, at the risk of throwing Turkey in Russia’s arms?

It should be reminded that in the recent Erdogan-Putin meeting the issue of Turkey buying Russian fighter jets for was also raised.

In any case, it is a strategically important move by Turkey and it is interesting to see what the US reaction will be.