“Posso dirtelo come pilota di F-16”: perché il Rafale seduce così tanto l’aeronautica greca – Il tasso di prontezza operativa del Rafale greco si avvicina al 90%.

Translated via Google translate

> “I can tell you this as an F-16 pilot”: why the Rafale seduces the Greek Air Force so much
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> The operational readiness rate of the Greek Rafale is approaching 90%. Dassault Aviation will sign a new contract to support Greek aircraft for the period 2026-2029 of nearly 490 million euros in Greece.
> Photo by Michel Cabirol
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> Michel CABIROL
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> Published on 05/12/25 at 10:33

> The Greek Rafale has an operational readiness close to 90%.
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> In Greece, the Rafale appeals to the Greek Air Force operationally and in terms of availability. And even beyond. The Chief of Staff of the Hellenic Armies, General Dimitrios Houpis, told the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs of Parliament on Monday that the rate of operational readiness of fighter aircraft manufactured by Dassault Aviation exceeds 85%, even approaching 90%. An unparalleled level in the Greek air force, which nevertheless has an F-16 fleet currently in the process of modernization! Greece ordered 24 Rafale in two installments (18 in 2021 and 6 in 2022), including 12 second-hand aircraft ceded by the French Air Force.
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> According to Lieutenant-General (I) Demosthenes Grigoriadis, head of the Hellenic Air Force, the Greek air force has “e fin, superior aircraft. I can tell you this as an F-16 pilot totaling about 4,000 flight hours, which I still fly. I have dedicated my entire career to air defense and I recently fled the Rafale (…) It is a guarantee that we have an excellent aircraft and I would like to stress that the Rafale has the autonomy to ensure the support and presence in Cyprus. This is a considerable advantage that we only partially benefited from with the F-16 so far.” The head of the Hellenic Air Force explained that the Eurofighter, of which 20 copies were ordered at the end of October by Turkey, “is not a problem, if the opponent is equipped with it. We know this aircraft very well and we have a much better weapon system as well as better pilots.” This could make Greece want to buy additional Rafales again as it had envisioned in 2024.
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**new contract for Dassault Aviation**

> These debates on the Rafale at the Standing Committee on National Defense and Foreign Affairs of Parliament took place in the context of a bill to extend support for the fighter jets sold by Dassault Aviation for the period 2026-2029 (FOS, or Follow On Support program). According to the government rapporteur, support needs were estimated based on 13,000 flight hours for the Rafales over the next four years, compared to approximately 6,190 flight hours for the previous contract. In total, the 24 Greek aircraft will each have to complete 135 flight hours per year. Of the Greek Rafale fleet, twelve aircraft require increased maintenance, particularly on the M88 engines (out of a total fleet of 54 units, including six as part of a safety stockpile).
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> The new contract is worth €489.55 million, of which approximately €52.9 million is for 2025. Why? The initial support contract for the first 18 Rafale aircraft expired last March. It was valued at €127.39 million, to which an addendum of €63.68 million was added after the acquisition of the six additional aircraft. While the support contract expired at the end of March, the Greek Rafales maintained an availability rate close to 90% thanks to the responsiveness of the Team Rafale teams (Dassault Aviation, Safran, and Thales). Initially, the French side requested €700 million, but the Greeks reduced the cost, notably by drastically limiting the number of French technicians from the three groups to three people (one per company, compared to around twenty in total initially) and by giving more responsibility to the Greek Air Force.
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> The support contract includes an optional component to cover repairs for potential malfunctions, as is currently the case. The Air Force chief informed Parliament that a Rafale fighter jet had been damaged in a bird strike. He specified that a French support team was carrying out the necessary repairs on the aircraft, which should be back in service this week.
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Is this an advertorial?

The F-16 came out in 1974, the Rafale came out in 2001/2006. Like even with modernizations, yeah, a plane built before disco got popular is probably not going to exceed one released after 9/11 in certain metrics.