The State Department has approved the sale of warships to Greece

 

 The US State Department has approved the potential sale of four $ 6.9 billion surface-to-surface ships to Greece, along with upgrades worth $ 2.5 billion to existing Greek Mecca-class Greek ships, the Pentagon was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The deal follows an agreement in September in which Greece said it would buy French frigates worth about 3 billion euros ($ 3.51 billion).

 The proposed sale will include four surface multi-role warships, similar to the 370-foot coastal warships used by the U.S. Navy, and related missiles, sonar, weapons, spare parts and technical support, the Pentagon said, as did Lockheed Martin. is the main contractor of the ships.

The State Department has also approved a potential $ 2.5 billion modernization of four ships in the existing Greek fleet of Mecca-class frigates, the Pentagon said.

 Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed and BAE Systems are the main contractors for the contract, the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon's Defense and Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a possible sale Friday.

Despite the approval of the State Department, the notification does not indicate that a contract has been signed or that negotiations have ended.

Greece is contributing to NATO's operations in Kosovo, supporting NATO's southern flank, as well as naval efforts to combat terrorism and piracy in the Mediterranean.