Greece in talks with Lockheed Martin to decrease modernization cost of its F-16 jets

ATHENS

Greece is in talks with the US defense company, Lockheed Martin, to decrease the skyrocketing cost of modernization of its F-16 jets, according to the media reports on Wednesday.

The talks on the modernization of 38 F-16 Block 50 jets to the latest Viper configuration started earlier this week in Athens and are taking place between representatives of the company and senior officials of the Greek Air Force, reported the daily Kathimerini.

Greece initially estimated the cost at around $800 million, but a US letter of understanding valued the program at $1.5 billion, it noted.

Kathimerini said the parties could reach an initial agreement of about $900 million by skipping some of the systems originally requested by the Greek Air Force.