Defense Minister Nikos Dendias has requested "an official explanation" from the French ambassador to Greece, Laurence Auer, about the ongoing negotiations for the sale of the MBDA METEOR long range air to air missile to Turkey. The METEOR would be sold to Ankara as part of the expected order for 40 Eurofighter TYPHOON jets that have been the subject of intense diplomatic talks for several years now.

Earlier in the saga, London had to strain its diplomatic muscles to get Germany to drop the initial opposition to the idea of supplying TYPHOONs to Ankara. Now Greece is putting pressure on France to veto at least the METEOR sale that would go along with the jets, with potential consequences on the whole of the project.

Greece officially states its “firm opposition” to the supply of METEOR missiles to Turkey, adding that such an action would not be in line “with the hitherto excellent strategic relations between the two countries (Greece and France)”.

Greece, which procured FDI fregates and Dassault RAFALE fighters from France in recent years, is a valuable market for French industry and happens to be negotiating with Paris potential new orders which include a possible 4th FDI frigate and air defence systems. Hopes for a sizeable export of 370 8x8 VBCI in the proposed “PHILOCTETES” greek configuration have more or less dissolved already during late 2024, but Athens will no doubt use these discussions to apply pressure on Paris.

France is of course not part of the Eurofighter consortium and is unlikely to have any real symphathy for the UK’s effort to sell 40 TYPHOON to Ankara, but on the other hand is of course a key part of the MBDA consortium and stands to gain from the METEOR sale.

For the UK, the sale of 40 new TYPHOONs to Turkey is particularly important as (together with an expected sale of 12 more TYPHOON to Qatar) would keep the assembly line in Warton busy for several years, bridging the gap towards the Global Combat Aircraft Program (GCAP / TEMPEST) production phase. The UK government is facing calls from the Unions to secure work to keep the BAE Systems TYPHOON assembly line alive and active but is highly unlikely to be willing / able to find money for a new order of jets within the Strategic Defence Review. For London it is particularly important to ensure the Turkey deal finally goes through.

On December 18, 2024, 2 Royal Air Force TYPHOONs touched down at Mürted Air base, approximately 35 kilometers north of Ankara, for inspection by Turkish officials, during ministerial talks with the visiting UK Minister of State for Defence Procurement, Maria Eagle. UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey had also been to Turkey earlier. Turkey expects to receive a formal pricing offer from London in a matter of days, but it’s unclear what effect Greece’s indirect offensive might have.

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