Greece on Thursday approved plans to buy an anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone defensive dome called “Achilles Shield” from Israel for 2.8 billion euros ($3.1 billion), a defense ministry source told AFP.
The purchase is part of a 4.2 billion euro ($4.8 billion) defense spending blitz which also includes C-390 Millennium transport aircraft, Heron unmanned aerial vehicles, Apache helicopter missiles, Victa stealth watercraft and frigate sonar systems, according to a ministry document seen by AFP.
“Achilles Shield was approved” at a meeting of the Greek council of foreign affairs and defense (KYSEA), headed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the ministry source said, requesting anonymity pending an official statement from the ministry.
The ministry document said that Greek defense contractors would contribute 700 million euros ($795 million) to the dome project.
Israel’s air defencss, including its “Iron Dome” system protecting against short-range rockets, have been frequently called upon to intercept projectiles during the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Greece has traditionally invested at least two percent of gross domestic product on its defense owing to decades of tension with regional rival Turkey.
It has sought to strengthen its position on the EU’s Eastern Mediterranean border, close to the conflict zones of the Middle East.
It now allocates more than three percent of output to defense.
Under Mitsotakis, Greece has invested heavily in upgrading its armed forces, initially in French-made Belharra ships and Rafale warplanes.
Athens has agreed to purchase four Belharra defense and intervention frigates, having already ordered 24 Rafale fighter jets.
During a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in April, Greece and France renewed a 2021 defense cooperation agreement that made the weapons purchases possible.
“If your sovereignty is jeopardized, we will stand by your side,” Macron said at the time before visiting Kimon, the first Belharra frigate delivered to Greece.
The additional purchases announced Thursday also include Brazilian-made C-390 Millennium aircraft and British-made Victa special forces watercraft. The latter will be mostly produced in Greece’s Skaramangas shipyards, the ministry document said.
Athens has also signed a deal for the acquisition of 20 US-made F-35 fighter jets.
In 2025, Mitsotakis announced 25 billion euros ($28.4 billion) would be spent on defense over the next 12 years.
The conservative leader, who faces elections by next spring, has called the project the “most drastic” defense overhaul in modern Greek history.
The defense ministry has said Athens must incorporate lessons from the war in Ukraine to modernise its forces and meet the challenges of the 21st century.
