Greece Oks plans to buy anti-drone ‘Achilles Shield’ for 2.8 bn euros

ATHENS

Greece on July 23 approved plans to buy an anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone defensive dome called “Achilles Shield” from Israel for 2.8 billion euros, a Defense Ministry source has said.

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.

“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.

Greece has traditionally invested at least two percent of gross domestic product on its defense owing to decades of tension with regional rivals Türkiye.

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.

Athens has also signed a deal for the acquisition of 20 U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets.

In 2025, Mitsotakis announced 25 billion euros would be spent on defense over the next 12 years.