DefenceTalkGreece has formalized a request for US-made F-35 fighter jets, its prime minister said Thursday, with Athens seeking to bolster its airforce amid tension with neighboring Turkey. “It is our intention to acquire a squadron of F-35s, with a possible option on a second (squadron),” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the end of a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/greece-formalizes-request-for-us-made-f-35-fighter-jets-pm-79051/

DefenceTalkGreece on Wednesday received six Rafale jets from France in a multi-billion-euro arms deal which Athens and Paris claim boosts the EU’s defence capabilities, but is mainly seen as countering Turkish ambitions in the Mediterranean. The six warplanes landed at Tanagra air base, some 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Athens, after overflying the Acropolis, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/greece-takes-delivery-of-rafale-fighter-jets-from-france-77719/

DefenceTalkFrance and Greece on Tuesday signed a multibillion-euro deal for Athens to buy three French warships, in an accord hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as a major boost for the EU’s defence ambitions. The memorandum of understanding for the purchase of the Belharra frigates was inked less than two weeks after France was left reeling […]

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkGreece’s defence minister on Wednesday dismissed reports that his country would spend 10 billion euros on an arms overhaul announced at the weekend. “It’s not a 10-billion-euro spending spree, let me make that very clear. It’s a series of very calculated, prioritised, smart moves addressing our needs to the maximum,” Nikos Panagiotopoulos told an Economist […]https://www.defencetalk.com/greek-arms-spending-will-not-cost-10-billion-euros-minister-76339/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTurkey on Friday accused Greece of shunning dialogue and lying by denying it had signed up to NATO-brokered talks aimed at avoiding accidents between their navies in the eastern Mediterranean. NATO allies Turkey and Greece are at loggerheads over energy riches, with overlapping maritime border claims and escalating tensions. A Greek frigate collided with a […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkey-accuses-greece-of-shunning-east-med-talks-76256/

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkTurkey’s big push into the Mediterranean featuring controversial gas drilling, tough rhetoric and warships is rooted in a grand vision of a “Blue Homeland” that takes over waters claimed by EU neighbours. Fearful of being denied a fair share of the region’s bountiful natural gas wealth, Turkey sent a research vessel and a small navy […]https://www.defencetalk.com/turkeys-bid-to-become-maritime-powerhouse-unsettles-mediterranean-76197/

DefenceTalkDefense relations between the State of Israel and Greece have been strengthened. Defense Ministry Director General, Maj. Gen. (Res.) Udi Adam and General Director for Defence Investments and Armament, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Theodoros Lagios (HAF), have signed the first agreement between their respective ministries to lease the Israeli Heron system developed by Israel Aerospace Industries […]https://www.defencetalk.com/israel-will-lease-iai-heron-uavs-to-greece-75427/

DefenceTalkGreece will sign a wide-ranging defense deal with France in coming months, the two countries’ defence ministers said Monday, months after a similar agreement between Athens and Washington. “We have decided to reinforce bilateral defence and security cooperation in a very significant manner,” French Defence Minister Florence Parly told reporters after talks with her Greek […]https://www.defencetalk.com/after-us-greece-to-sign-defence-deal-with-france-74219/

Greece will send some of its Patriot air defence missiles to Saudi Arabia under a program involving the US, Britain and France, the government spokesman said Tuesday. Athens will deploy the missiles at Saudi cost “to protect critical energy infrastructure,” government spokesman Stelios Petsas told reporters. “The deployment contributes to energy security, promotes our country […]

Greece’s parliament on Thursday approved an updated defence agreement with the US allowing the use of Greek military facilities as hundreds protested outside. A majority of lawmakers ratified the Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) as hundreds of Communist, left-wing and anti-war demonstrators protested on central Syntagma Square. The agreement, which updates a deal originally signed […]