site.btaUPDATED Greece Approves New Defence Procurement Package, Including EUR 3.5 Billion Achilles Shield

Greece's Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) has approved a new package of defence procurement contracts as part of the country's long-term military modernisation programme, Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said on Thursday, quoted by Greek media outlets.

The approved projects cover air defence, surveillance, unmanned systems and military mobility, Kathimerini reported. They include the EUR 3.5 billion Achilles Shield, a multi-layered network of air defence, ballistic missile defence and counter-drone systems, with Israeli-made radars and missiles forming its core. Dendias said the programme would include around EUR 700 million in participation by Greece's domestic defence industry.

According to Kathimerini, the system is expected to combine Rafael's Spyder systems, Israel Aerospace Industries' (IAI) Barak MX and a version of the David's Sling ballistic missile defence system. The components will be linked through a command-and-control network using artificial intelligence applications to identify and classify threats and select the appropriate interception option. The software will remain Greek property and will not be subject to Israeli intervention, the newspaper reported.

The package also includes the acquisition of three Embraer C-390 Millennium military transport aircraft through a government-to-government agreement with Portugal, a programme estimated at around EUR 600 million including support. Other approved projects include military microsatellites under cooperation with Poland, special forces vessels, additional Israeli Heron-1 unmanned aerial systems for surveillance missions in the Aegean Sea and Hellfire missiles for Apache attack helicopters, according to Kathimerini.

The procurements form part of Greece's broader plan to spend EUR 28 billion on the modernisation of its armed forces. The programme also includes the acquisition of new F-35 fighter jets from the United States and frigates from France and Italy, Kathimerini reported.