Athens:
Greece is in talks with Israel to develop a 2 billion euro ($2.11 billion) anti-aircraft and missile defence dome, a part of a wider push to modernise its armed forces because it recovers from a protracted debt disaster, Greek officers mentioned on Thursday.
The defences would probably mimic Israel’s Iron Dome and different methods that intercept short- and long-range missiles launched throughout strikes from its neighbours amid the continued conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
Greece is eager to spend money on its defences to maintain up with its NATO ally and historic rival Turkey, which can also be growing its personal air defences, regardless of some enchancment in relations.
“The plan is to create a multi-layer anti-aircraft and anti-drone system,” one supply with data of the difficulty instructed Reuters after a closed door briefing with Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias.
“We’re in discussions with Israel,” the supply mentioned.
A second official confirmed the size of the potential deal, including that Greece must spend 12.8 billion euros by 2035 to modernise its armed forces.
The air defences are a part of Athens’ 10-year navy buying plan that features buying as much as 40 new F-35 fighter jets and drones from the US, and 4 Belharra frigates and Rafale jets from France.
“Our effort is for a fast transition of our armed forces to the twenty first century,” Defence Minister Dendias mentioned earlier than the Thursday briefing.
Greece presently makes use of US Patriot and outdated Russian S-300 methods to guard its airspace.
Regardless of some thaw in Greece’s long-troubled relations with Turkey, its a lot bigger japanese neighbour, the 2 nations stay at odds on a spread of points together with sea boundaries, power assets and airspace within the japanese Mediterranean.
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