Greece is accelerating the deepest overhaul of its armed forces since 1974, burying bases and missile systems beneath its easternmost islands as tensions with Turkey rise again.
The buildup comes as Ankara sharpens its rhetoric, with a senior figure in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s governing coalition warning recently that the days of tolerating “provocations” in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean were over. Greek officials see such comments as part of a broader pattern of revisionist pressure from Ankara, one that appears to be ending a period of relative calm between the two NATO allies.
In response, Greece is pressing ahead with Agenda 2030, a program defense officials describe as its most far-reaching military reform in decades.
Israeli air defense systems on the way
By the end of this month, Greece’s Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) is expected to approve the purchase of Israeli antiballistic and antiaircraft systems, including the BARAK missile defense system, David’s Sling and SPYDER. These systems will form the backbone of what Greece calls the Achilles’ Shield, its planned multilayered air defense dome.
Underground bases across the Aegean and Evros
Away from public attention, Greece is also pressing ahead with an extensive fortification program on the islands of the Eastern Aegean and along the Evros River, the land border with Turkey. Officials say the work draws directly on lessons from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, where conventional, above ground military installations proved highly vulnerable to swarms of cheap but lethal drones and precision guided missiles. To survive a first strike and be able to counterattack, planners concluded, forces need to be hidden and heavily fortified underground.
The plan calls for 207 new projects on mainland Greece and 315 on the islands, with officials aiming to complete all of them within three years. Defense Minister Nikos Dendias, discussing the program in July 2025, put its budget at 65 million euros and said the work, like several other defense reforms, was already overdue.
Consolidating smaller, more exposed outposts
The strategy involves merging dozens of small, difficult to defend camps into fewer but stronger installations, many of them semi underground or fully underground and shielded from the view of enemy satellites and reconnaissance drones. Officials describe undergrounding as the key to keeping Greek forces alive through a sudden opening strike.
The projects include underground shelters for troops, armored ammunition depots and hidden command and control centers, known by the military term C4I, built to withstand even heavy artillery fire. The goal, according to defense planners, is to ensure that each island retains its defensive capability intact even after the first hours of a conflict.
Precision missiles hidden beneath the surface
The underground and semi underground positions will not only shelter personnel. They are also designed to house mobile, high precision weapons systems, including Israeli made Spike NLOS missiles. These systems would remain concealed and protected below ground until needed, then emerge to strike enemy naval vessels or amphibious forces at ranges of tens of kilometers before returning quickly to the safety of their underground shelters, avoiding detection.
Under this approach, each island in the Eastern Aegean is meant to shift from a passive defensive outpost into what Greek defense officials call an autonomous, unsinkable fortress.
Source: TA NEA.gr
