Greece approves plan to buy Israeli defensive shield for 2.8 billion euros

Greece has approved plans to buy an Israeli anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone defensive dome called Achilles Shield for 2.8 billion euros, a defence ministry source said. The source said the Greek council of foreign affairs and defence, KYSEA, approved the purchase at a meeting led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. The source requested anonymity pending an official ministry statement.

The purchase is part of a 4.2 billion euro, or $4.8 billion, defence spending package. A ministry document cited in the report said the package also includes C-390 Millennium transport aircraft, Heron unmanned aerial vehicles, Apache helicopter missiles, Victa stealth watercraft and frigate sonar systems.

Greece has traditionally spent at least two percent of gross domestic product on defence because of decades of tension with Turkey. It now allocates more than three percent of output to defence.

Under Mitsotakis, Greece has invested in upgrades to its armed forces, including French-made Belharra ships and Rafale warplanes. Athens has agreed to buy four Belharra defence and intervention frigates and has already ordered 24 Rafale fighter jets. Greece and France renewed a 2021 defence cooperation agreement during a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron in April. Macron said at the time, "If your sovereignty is jeopardised, we will stand by your side," before visiting Kimon, the first Belharra frigate delivered to Greece.

Athens has also signed a deal to acquire 20 US-made F-35 fighter jets. In 2025, Mitsotakis announced 25 billion euros in defence spending over the next 12 years. The conservative leader faces elections by next spring and has called the project the "most drastic" defence overhaul in modern Greek history.