Greece is looking to sell 18 decommissioned French-made Mirage 2000 jets to India.
"The Greek Air Force is looking into the possibility of the fighters’ sale to India, a suggestion which both the Defence Ministry and the prime minister’s office are aware of," Kathimerini reported on Wednesday.
The outlet added that Greece and India are nearly ready to finalise a deal on the jets, which were de-commissioned in 2022 and are not ruling out the possibility that the sale could be brought up by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his visit to New Delhi later this month.
According to the daily, the Greek Air Force has low expectations for the sale price of the jets, a few million euros per jet at best, as they are in derelict condition.
In light of this, it added that the decision to sell the decommissioned Mirages is expected to have more political benefits than economic ones.
The 18 Mirage fighters were acquired in the late 1980s and retired in January 2022 after purchasing newer 4.5th-generation Dassault Rafale fighters.
The problems faced by 332 Squadron due to the Mirage 2000 are known, as is the fact that the fighters were grounded due to a lack of logistical support before the new French fighters were procured.
In recent years, most of the ‘two-litre’ fighters have been abandoned at the Tanagra Air Base in Boeotia, while some have been ‘cannibalised’ for parts to a point where it seems unlikely that they could fly again.
Nevertheless, some operators of the legendary French fighters, such as India, still maintain around 50 of the aircraft across three fighter squadrons.
Just before the 2023 expiry, New Delhi announced its interest in procuring used Mirage 2000s as it intends to keep its own squadrons that use them operational for at least another decade.
Greece is looking forward to further its defensive ties with India, and the decision to sell the decommissioned Mirages is expected to have more political benefits than economic ones.
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