Türkiye's western neighbor and historic rival, Greece, is considering stockpiling more weapons. It will spend more than 25 billion euros in arms procurements by 2036, including new submarines, drones, satellites and fighter jets, under a 12-year plan to be submitted to Parliament in the coming weeks, three officials with knowledge of the plan told Reuters.
The move is part of Greece's bid to modernize its armed forces as it emerges from the 2009-18 debt crisis that led to years of austerity and as it tries to keep pace with Türkiye, which boasts a flourishing defense industry and less reliance on imports for its defense needs. The two countries are at odds over sea boundaries, energy resources and airspace in the eastern Mediterranean.
The new plan will build on recent reforms. Greece, a member of the European Union and NATO, already spends about 3% of its gross domestic product on defense. That is nearly double the average in the EU, which is under pressure to bolster defenses as its 75-year-old alliance with the United States comes under strain.
The plan will include the purchase of four new submarines, new air, sea, and underwater drones, and a communication satellite, according to two sources who participated in the preparation of the plan. Part of the money will be used to develop an anti-aircraft and anti-drone dome called "Achilles Shield" and to pay for 20 F-35 fighter jets that have been ordered from the United States. Under the plan, Greece will upgrade older F-16 fighter jets to "Viper" level and four German-made MEKO 200 frigates already serving in the navy. A third source said that the plan would include up to six new big patrol boats or corvettes to be built in Greek shipyards. The new plan follows already-announced plans to buy a new long-range rocket artillery system with a range of up to 300 kilometers (186.4 miles). Most of these will protect Greece's northeastern border with Türkiye and its islands in the Aegean.
Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, who faces accusations of undermining reviving ties with Türkiye, said last December that the country faces a “real war threat” from Türkiye as he defended almost doubling the defense expenditures of Greece. Spending for the defense ministry will rise to 6.1 billion euros ($6.5 billion) from 3.6 billion euros due to increased equipment deliveries in 2025. "Is this spending too much? Whoever is positioning themselves on this needs to explain what criteria they are considering. Is the country threatened? And where is the main threat to the country coming from?" Dendias told the Parliament in December, noting that Türkiye spends 26.8 billion euros on armaments.
Greece spends around 3% of its annual economic output on defense, higher than most EU states, mainly because of long-running tension with Türkiye. Greek armed forces had a 20-billion-euro shortfall during the country's decade-long debt crisis, Dendias said in November, when he announced a shake-up of defense forces to sideline older weapons in favor of drones after lessons drawn from Ukraine's war with Russia. Greece is one of 21 countries participating in the European air defense system, European Sky Shield, which was initiated by Germany, but the government in Athens thinks progress is too slow. Türkiye, too, has unveiled its own “Steel Dome” system recently and already boasts a defense budget far higher than Greece, which is its NATO ally. Unlike Greece, Türkiye relies on its own locally made arsenal in its “Dome” and other areas, particularly unmanned aerial combat vehicles. Greece, on the other hand, will spend the majority of its defense budget on payments for French-made Rafale fighter jets and Belharra frigates and the modernization of F-16 fighter jets.
After a long period of tensions marked by disputes over irregular migration, the Cyprus dispute, energy exploration and territorial sovereignty in the Aegean, Türkiye and Greece have been taking confidence-building steps for a fragile normalization of their relations, which moved into a new chapter with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s landmark visit to Athens in December 2023.
While officials on both sides have expressed commitment to maintaining the positive climate, the issues are longstanding and deep-rooted, and neither side expects the process to be without turbulence, particularly in the Aegean, where Turkish and Greek jets often scuffled until very recently. Ankara has repeatedly warned its neighbor against entering an arms race with Türkiye, particularly on building a military presence on the disputed Aegean islands since the 1960s, in violation of postwar treaties. Greece's purchase of F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. and the upping of defense budgets are meant to counter the protection of Turkish interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece says it needs to defend the islands against a potential attack from Türkiye, but Turkish officials said continued militarization of the islands could lead to Ankara questioning their ownership.
