Greece to buy anti-drone 'Achilles Shield' from Israel for 2.8 bn euros

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, a defence ministry source told AFP.

The purchase is part of a 4.2 billion euro ($4.8 billion) defence 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 defence (KYSEA), headed by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the ministry source said, requesting anonymity pending an official statement from the ministry.

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

It now allocates more than three percent of output to defence.

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 defence 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 defence cooperation agreement that made the weapons purchases possible.

"If your sovereignty is jeopardised, 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 US-made F-35 fighter jets.

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

The conservative leader, who faces elections by next spring, has called the project the "most drastic" defence overhaul in modern Greek history.