The military modernization is Athens’ most ambitious defense overhaul in modern history, designed to transform the Hellenic Armed Forces into one of Europe’s most technologically advanced militaries.
Greece’s sweeping €25 billion-€28 billion military modernization program is not just about new fighter jets and missile systems. It represents a profound strategic shift in the Eastern Mediterranean, one in which Israel has emerged as Athens’s indispensable partner.
It is Greece’s most ambitious defense overhaul in modern history, designed to transform the Hellenic Armed Forces into one of Europe’s most technologically advanced militaries.
Israel’s defense industries, with their operational expertise, are playing a pivotal role in reshaping Greece’s security posture.
The program, running from 2025 to 2036, allocates some €2b.-€2.5b. annually to strengthen Greece’s deterrence capabilities. Key acquisitions include 20 F-35 fighter jets, advanced drone and cyber systems, and the development of Achilles’ Shield: a multi-layered air, missile, and anti-drone defense network that will see a range of Israeli systems as key players.
The Achilles’ Shield initiative also seeks to bolster Greece’s domestic defense industry, ensuring long-term sustainability and reducing reliance on imports, as many countries do.
Greece’s sweeping military modernization program is unfolding against the backdrop of Turkey’s own ambitious drive to expand and indigenize its defense capabilities, creating a dynamic that could reshape the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Turkey has made defense autonomy a national priority, aiming to meet nearly all of its military needs domestically by 2030.
After being kicked out of the F-35 program, Ankara’s flagship projects include the KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet, now in the prototype stage, and the Altay main battle tank, which began deliveries in 2025. At sea, the Turkish Navy is pursuing a modernization plan that adds new submarines and air-defense destroyers.
In the missile domain, Ankara is aggressively pursuing long-range and hypersonic systems. The Tayfun Block 4 ballistic missile is capable of reaching speeds above Mach 5, with a range of 800 km., and carried out a successful test last week. Turkey plans mass production of the missile by 2026.
Alongside these developments, Turkey has launched the $6.5 billion Steel Dome program, a multi-layered air-defense network designed to rival Israel’s Iron Dome and Greece’s Achilles’ Shield, to provide protection against aircraft, drones, and ballistic threats.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the Steel Dome “will instill confidence in friends and fear in enemies.”
For Greece, these threats are not abstract. They represent a direct challenge across the Aegean and have accelerated Athens’s own modernization timeline. The Achilles’ Shield program, announced in 2025, is Greece’s answer.
It includes a $3.5 billion investment in Israeli-made Barak MX, David’s Sling, and Spyder systems, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, to replace aging American and Russian platforms.Added to existing Patriot batteries, these acquisitions will give Greece one of Europe’s most sophisticated air-defense networks. On the ground, Athens has approved the purchase of 36 Elbit Systems’ PULS rocket artillery launchers, providing long-range precision strike capability that directly counters Turkey’s expanding missile arsenal.
Israel’s LORA ballistic missile system, with a range of up to 400 km., was showcased in Athens earlier this year and is also under active consideration. If acquired, it would extend Greece’s strike reach and serve as a deterrent against Turkey’s growing missile forces.
In this sense, Jerusalem has become more than a supplier; it has become a strategic partner, providing the technology that allows Athens to keep pace and even outmaneuver Ankara’s advances.
The partnership extends beyond hardware. Joint naval and air exercises have become routine, involving Greek frigates and submarines and Israeli Sa’ar corvettes. These drills underscore a shared commitment to securing the Eastern Mediterranean, where both nations face regional instability and assertive Turkish policies.
For Greece, collaboration with Israel strengthens its North Atlantic Treaty Organization role while signaling alignment with regional democracies. For Jerusalem, deepening ties with Athens enhances its strategic depth in the Mediterranean and opens new markets for its defense industry.
But Israeli defense firms are not merely selling equipment; they are embedding themselves in Greece’s defense architecture. These are not off-the-shelf purchases; they are tailored solutions designed with Israeli expertise to meet Greece’s unique threat environment.
The partnership also carries economic weight. Greece’s defense spending, already among the highest in NATO relative to GDP, is being channeled into projects that will strengthen its domestic industry through Israeli collaboration. Politically, the alliance underscores a broader realignment in the region, with Greece, Israel, and Cyprus increasingly coordinating on energy, security, and diplomacy.
The geopolitical context cannot be ignored. Both Greece and Israel face assertive neighbors and volatile regional dynamics. Athens’s modernization is driven in part by tensions with Ankara over maritime boundaries and energy exploration. Jerusalem, meanwhile, continues to navigate instability in the Middle East.
But the result is a regional arms race that is increasingly defined by parallel modernization programs.
Turkey’s emphasis on indigenous production contrasts with Greece’s reliance on partnerships, particularly with Israel and France, but the strategic logic is the same: to secure deterrence and ensure freedom of action in a contested region.
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