Escorted by F-35, First Greek F-16 Viper Returns From the US

Story by Kathimerini

The first F-16 Viper of the Hellenic Air Force with the serial number "005" returned to Greece after 2.5 years of exhaustive testing in the United States. However, the Greek F-16 does not come alone but is accompanied by three Israeli F-35s.

Like an image taken from the future of the Hellenic Air Force, the F-16 Viper with the "Aegean Ghost" variant and the insignia of the US Air Force to which it temporarily belongs because this is provided for in the protocol for the certification of its new systems, crossed the Atlantic Ocean as the "leader" of a formation of three state-of-the-art F-35s.

How the Transfer Was Organized

The upgraded F-16 completed months of testing on U.S. soil in early June and was awaiting the U.S. Air Force's green light to return to Greece. But the logistics required to make such a long journey, from Texas to Athens, are particularly complex and costly as the fighter must be supported by aerial refueling aircraft. The Americans combined the transfer of the Greek F-16 Viper with three F-35s that had to be transferred to Israel.

The journey of the four fighters began early Tuesday morning. Reportedly, at 5:20 a.m. local Texas time, the planes took off from Fort Worth Air Force Base, and at 17:45 p.m. local time, after nearly eight hours of flight, they landed in the Azores, having covered a distance of about 6,000 kilometers.

The quartet of Greek F-16s and Israeli F-35s were accompanied throughout the long journey by two American KC-135 flying tankers, with the first "meeting" them in the air a few hours after take-off and the second "rendezvous" with them halfway.

Back to Greece

The journey is expected to continue today with the four jets set off for their bases. If everything goes according to plan, the special Greek-Israeli formation will "break" over the Mediterranean and the F-16 Block 72 Viper will arrive within the day at HAI facilities while the F-35s will head to their parent base.

The F-16 will remain for a short time in Tanagra and after completing the necessary interventions and changing its insignia, it is expected to join the 343 Squadron "ASTERI", enhancing the power of the Greek Viper.

The "005" flew to the United States on February 4, 2021, after successfully completing flight tests in Greece. It was the first F-16 Block 52+ adv single-seat of the 335 Squadron "TIGER" to be upgraded to Viper in HAI's hangars. During its stay at Fort Worth, Texas, and then at Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. Air Force pilots subjected it to rigorous systems testing to see if the new systems, including the AESA active electronically scanned radar, sensors, combat computer and self-defense system, work in the fighter's new configuration.

Recently, the installation of new software was completed on eight F-16 Vipers of the 343 Squadron, while in July three more upgraded F-16 Block 72s are expected.