Μake us preferred on Google The Greek government has reportedly agreed to spend up to US$4 billion on additional American defense systems and equipment, including advanced missiles and bombs for its F-16 Viper and soon-to-be-acquired F-35 fighter jets and UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, Reuters reported Thursday, citing two senior Greek officials.
The reported procurements, which include a modernization of additional F-16s, emerged from a series of defense and security discussions in Athens over the past two days, during Rubio’s visit and meetings with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis and Defense Minister Nikos Dendias.
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A senior Greek defense ministry official said most of the procurements are already incorporated into the government’s multiyear defense plan, while the cost will be spread over several years.
The reported package is not a single weapons program but a group of procurements and support arrangements. The US and Greece also agreed on $4 billion in Foreign Military Sales in support of Greece’s long-term defense plan, alongside the provision of Stryker armored vehicles and a new defense partnership with the Florida National Guard.
For the Hellenic Air Force, completing the F-16 Viper modernization remains a priority. Greece has already upgraded more than 80 aircraft and is seeking to modernize additional Block 50 aircraft. The reported package also covers weapons for the F-35 fleet, while Athens is examining systems including the AIM-120D AMRAAM, AIM-260 JATM and JASSM-ER. Those individual systems remain under consideration and should not be treated as finalized procurements.
The US package also includes support for Greece’s seven MH-60R Romeo anti-submarine helicopters and its 35 Black Hawks. Separately, Athens is pursuing the transfer of US Stryker armored vehicles to the Greek Army.
The Stryker issue and the new US weapons package formed part of a broader defense agenda discussed during Rubio’s meetings in Athens. The Greece-Florida National Guard partnership provides for military training, exercises and exchanges of expertise, including in reserve forces and disaster response.
The meetings also produced a new US-Greece security arrangement for counterterrorism information-sharing between law-enforcement agencies. Rubio said Wednesday that the two NATO allies had agreed to strengthen cooperation against common security threats.
The new defense commitments build on Greece’s broader military modernization program, which envisages spending about 28 billion euros through 2036 on new capabilities, including 20 US-made F-35s, 35 Black Hawks and the Israeli-developed “Achilles Shield” air and missile defense system.
Greece is spending close to 3.5% of GDP on defense, with its military buildup driven in large part due to long-running threats emanating from neighboring Turkey.
This week’s agreements
A Letter of Intent signed in Athens on Wednesday establishes a long-term defense partnership between the Greek armed forces and the Florida National Guard under the US National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program.
The agreement was signed by Gen. Dimitrios Choupis, chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS), and Maj. Gen. John Haas, Adjutant General of the Florida National Guard, in the presence of Dendias and Rubio.
The partnership will cover joint training and exercises, military interoperability, command and control, joint fires and tactical maneuvers, logistics support, air defense and air operations, disaster response, space and cyber operations. It will also provide for personnel exchanges, training activities and the sharing of best practices, with cooperation programs to be coordinated annually.
The agreement forms part of Greece’s Agenda 2030 program to restructure and modernize its armed forces, including the organization and operational readiness of the military reserve. Dendias said the partnership would allow Greece to draw on US expertise through training, exchanges and closer cooperation with the Florida National Guard.
