Greece has signed a €3.5 billion deal with Israel for a multi-layered air defense system, one of the largest defense pro...

Greece has signed a €3.5 billion deal with Israel for a multi-layered air defense system, one of the largest defense procurements in Greek history, and Israeli analysts say it carries a clear strategic message directed at Turkey. The system, called Achilles Shield, will combine three Israeli platforms across different threat ranges. Rafael's David's Sling handles the upper layer, intercepting cruise missiles, aircraft, and drones at ranges up to 300 kilometers. Israel Aerospace Industries' Barak MX covers the middle layer against jets, helicopters, and ballistic threats, while Rafael's Spyder system provides flexible lower-layer coverage and will be deployed as far as Crete and across the Aegean islands. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made Athens' reasoning explicit after the National Security Council approved the deal. "Turkey is eight times bigger than us," he said, adding that Greece will never conduct diplomacy from a position of weakness and intends to maintain a strong deterrence capability at all times. The deal is being fast-tracked for full deployment within 35 months, driven by Greek military planners' concern over a potential Turkish opening strike involving multiple simultaneous missiles aimed at Aegean islands. The Israeli system is designed to absorb such a strike and buy time for Greece to reinforce its island garrisons from the mainland. The strategic picture goes beyond hardware. Turkey recently declared a closed maritime zone north of Cyprus to lay a gas pipeline to the Turkish-occupied north of the island, a move that Greek and Israeli officials see as a further consolidation of Ankara's regional power. A senior Greek official told Globes that Athens believes Turkey has also shelved, not abandoned, its "Blue Homeland" maritime law, which threatens war if Greece extends its Aegean economic zone beyond six nautical miles. Turkey's pressure has also directly disrupted Israeli interests. An Italian ship contracted to lay an undersea power cable connecting the Israeli electricity grid to Europe through Greek waters has been sitting idle after Turkey threatened to cut the cables. The Achilles Shield contract includes at least 25% local ...