The week after the U.S.-Greece Strategic Dialogue kicked off, Turkey violated Greek airspace hundreds of times.  The Hellenic Air Force intercepted the Turkish jets — which promptly turned back to Turkey.  These continued provocations by Turkey have increased to such a frequency that even the US Ambassador to Greece has repeatedly expressed concerns over an “accident” occurring between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean.

While the chances of an accident are greater than ever, these provocations are being treated more as a severe annoyance and a test rather than an imminent military threat.  But let’s fast forward a few years.  Imagine that the Turkish jets violating Greek airspace are not F-16s, but F-35s.  Greece scrambles its F-16s to intercept.  They are in the air late because radar did not immediately pick up the F-35s due to their stealth technology.  As the Greek jets approach the eastern edge of Greece’s airspace, they are locked on by the S-400 missile system Turkey purchased from Russia – a missile system that has been designed to specifically take down warplanes like the F-16.

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