Greece has signed a $3.5 billion defence agreement with Israel to build a new integrated air defence network. The deal was signed at the Israeli Ministry of Defence headquarters in Tel Aviv on August 31, following around three years of negotiations between the two countries.
The system, known as the Achilles Shield, is expected to be fully operational within 35 months, putting completion around mid-2029. Israel’s Defence Ministry called it the largest defence export deal in the two countries’ history and one of the biggest of any kind Israel has signed. Athens will also become only the second European country to procure the David’s Sling system.
The network brings together three Israeli defence systems: Rafael’s SPYDER and David’s Sling, along with Israel Aerospace Industries’ BARAK MX. It will also use MMR multi-mission radars built by IAI subsidiary ELTA Systems, with Rafael providing the command-and-control system that ties the network together.
A separate €26 million deal for Rafael’s Drone Dome systems was signed alongside the main agreement.
Local firms will take on more than 25% of the programme’s value, worth over €750 million, with nineteen companies already involved in the project.
Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said the Achilles Shield will move the country away from using separate weapons systems towards one integrated network. He added that a fleet of microsatellites has also been acquired as part of wider military modernisation.
