On Thursday, Greece sent an official request to the US to buy 20 Lockheed Martin-made F-35 fighter jets, they are also considering buying a second set of the jets.
"Our intention is to acquire an F-35 squadron with a possible option for a second one. Sending a Letter of Request (LoR) which has happened in the past few days is part of this process,"
- Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
Greece is one of few NATO member states that allocates more than 2% of its GDP to defense spending.
Last year, Athens bought 24 Dassault-made Rafale jets for 2.5 billion euros and three navy frigates for nearly 3 billion euros.
Greece and Turkey have been at odds for decades over variety of problems, including overflights in the Aegean and the ethnically divided island of Cyprus.
