A major agreement for the development of the anti-aircraft, anti-ballistic, and anti-drone Dome (“Achilles Shield”) was signed yesterday in Tel Aviv between the Director General for Defence Investments and Armaments, Major General Ioannis Bouras, on behalf of Greece and the Director General of the Ministry of Defence, Amir Baram; the Head of the International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) of the Ministry of Defence, Yair Kulas; the Head of the Directorate of Defence Research and Development of the Ministry of Defence, Daniel Gold; the Head of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, Moshe Patel; Rafael CEO Yoav Tourgeman and the CEO of the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Guy Barlev, on behalf of Israel.
According to the Hellenic Ministry of Defence, the programme’s total budget amounts to €3.035 billion. As part of its implementation, broad participation by the Greek defence and technology ecosystem is envisaged, with 19 Greek companies already participating in the relevant procedures. Their participation exceeds 25%, specifically amounting to €750 million. At the same time, the creation of a production base in Greece with export prospects is envisaged.
What is the “Achilles Shield”
Greece’s “Achilles Shield” should not be considered as a part of Israel’s Iron Dome. Iron Dome is a specific short-to-medium-range, multi-mission air-defence system that can counter a broad range of threats, including rockets, artillery, mortars, UAVs, cruise missiles and other missile threats. Achilles Shield refers to Greece’s broader integrated air-defence programme, which is intended to bring together multiple defensive capabilities, including anti-aircraft, anti-ballistic and counter-drone systems, under a unified command-and-control architecture. Iron Dome could therefore represent a capability within a broader layered defence concept such as Achilles Shield, rather than being synonymous with the entire Greek programme.
The Achilles Shield will be the country’s planned integrated, multi-layered air-defence architecture, designed to counter a wide range of threats. The programme will bring together multiple Israeli-developed capabilities, including David’s Sling, SPYDER and BARAK MX, alongside MMR multi-mission radars. At the core of the architecture will be the new national C2 developed by Rafael, which will integrate Greece’s air-defence assets into a unified network. The system forms a central pillar of Greece’s “Agenda 2030” defence modernisation programme.
Minister of National Defence Nikos Dendias stated:
“We are living in an era of radical change. Modern conflicts have already transformed the parameters of military defence and deterrence. Technology, ballistic missiles, satellite communications, unmanned systems, cyber threats, hybrid forms of warfare and the interconnection of operational domains have long rendered pre-existing defence doctrines completely unrealistic. With precisely this rationale, we are proceeding with the comprehensive and fundamental reform of the Armed Forces, with full awareness and recognition of the dysfunctions and entrenched constraints of the past. Greece is the first country in the European Union to adopt a similar system. The rapid transformation of everything is the indispensable condition for national survival in the face of revisionism and the ever-expanding threat.”, the Greek Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, stated. (translated)
