The United States of America plans to deploy F-35 and F-16 fighter jets in Crete, about which an official request was sent to the Greek government, according to a Turkish edition. Ulusal Kanal.
Turkish journalists report that Athens is currently preparing a response to this request. If it is approved (and a positive answer is 100%), then American fighters will be deployed at the Greek Souda airbase on the island of Crete.
Several military installations of the Greek army are located in this territory, as well as one of the main NATO strongholds in the region.
Washington and Athens are also discussing the issue of strengthening defensive capabilities in the zone of the islands of Rhodes, Lesbos and Chios by creating new military bases, which, on the other hand, is quite annoying for Turkey, which makes claims to Greece about the militarization of the islands off the coast of Turkey. Greece, for its part, also expresses constant concern about the potential threat from Turkey and the growing tension in the Aegean.
According to experts, in exchange for strengthening the defence capability, the Greek side can transfer part of its old air defence systems and armoured vehicles of the BMP-1 type to the Ukrainian army. Earlier, Greece refused to send the S-300 anti-missile system available in the country to Ukraine, citing insufficient air defence.
