Inauguration Ceremony of F-16 Block 52 "Peace Xenia III"

F-16 Block 52+
Peace Xenia lll
Inauguration Ceremony 2 April 2003

The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) requirement for a fighter aircraft was eventually narrowed down to two candidates, the Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000 and the General Dynamics F-16. Greece eventually decided to split the purchase and ordered 40 F-16s and 40 Mirage 2000s.
In 1984, the Government of Greece announced its decision to purchase forty F-16 fighter aircraft to replace the country's F-5A Freedom Fighter. The Peace Xenia programme was unique in that the F-16s were ordered from General Dynamics directly as a commercial buy rather than through the U.S Air Force. Accompanying the purchase would be a 100 percent offsets package, to be fulfilled by GD and its engine and avionics partners, General Electric (GE) and Westinghouse Electric corporations. The package would consist of a combination of direct and indirect offsets, including opportunities for coproduction. In March 2000, Greece signed a letter of agreement for 50 Block 52+ F-16C/Ds under the Peace Xenia III program. The first Advanced Block 52 F-16s were handed over to the Greek Air Force as part of the Peace Xenia III FMS program in October of 2002. There has subsequently been a Peace Xenia IV programme. This medallion was issued at the inauguration ceremony on the 2nd April 2003.