US seeks to expand F-35 jet sales to Greece, Romania, Poland

By  Trend

The United States is considering expanding its sales of the F-35 fighter jet to five additional countries, including Greece, Romania and Poland, Pentagon’s F-35 Program Executive Officer Mathias Winter said in written testimony submitted to Congress on Thursday, Trend reports citing Sputnik.

"Future potential [foreign military sale] customers include Singapore, Greece, Romania, Spain, and Poland with the [joint program office] responding to all official inquiries," Winter said. "The coming year promises to be another of substantial growth and progress across the global F-35 enterprise."

Winter said that Switzerland and Finland have considered obtaining the F-35 jet, and the US government is expected to respond to those proposals in August and November, respectively.

In December, Japan announced its plans to buy an additional 105 F-35 aircraft to supplement its originally planned force of 42 F-35 jets. The anticipated purchase makes Japan the largest international customer of F-35 aircraft.

On Monday, the Pentagon announced that the United States halted its deliveries and activities with Turkey on F-35 operational capabilities over Ankara's decision to buy Russian S-400 defence systems.