Greek-Turkish: In a string of Greek and Indian Rafale Turkey and Pakistan with the visit of the head of the Indian Air Force to Greece is causing difficulties in Ankara and Islamabad.
The Indian Air Force chief is likely to pay a visit to Greece, which could be a game-changer for New Delhi and Athens.
“The Hellenic Air Force has acquired both planes and will have a clear idea of the operational aspects of a Rafale vs. F16 C/D match,” high-level sources told Indian news agency Times Now, writes eurasiantimes.com.
Currently, the F-16C/D are the best fighters that Pakistan has. The country also has F-16A/B, but they are of an earlier generation.
“Therefore, the HAF (Hellenic Air Force) could share critical information with the IAF (Indian Air Force) about the performance of both the Rafale and the F-16C/D, which could benefit the Indian army in any possible future conflict with Pakistan,” it stressed.
India and Greece are expected to put on the cooperation table the treatment of the Turkish Bayraktar, as it is believed that Turkey has also equipped Pakistan with Turkish drones.
“Greece and India may cooperate on drone defense technologies to counter drone threat from Turkey and Pakistan,” reports eurasiantimes.com.
According to the publication, initially, Greece “could share data on the flight characteristics and radar signature of Turkish-made drones with India, as the Greek military must have gathered important information about Turkish drones regularly flying over Greek islands”.
“Considering that the drones are small in size and difficult to detect on radar, such information could prove valuable to India in the event of a possible conflict with Pakistan in which Turkish-made drones could be used,” adds the editor.
At the same time India uses the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, which is also used by Turkey, so military exercises with India could allow the HAF to test the Rafale against the S-400.
In addition, “Greece may also buy the Indian BrahMos cruise missile that could be integrated with the Rafale aircraft,” it notes, while according to an earlier report by the EurAsian Times, a smaller and lighter version of the BrahMos, the BrahMos-NG (Next Generation), is under development and will be compatible with the French-made Rafale.
