Greece will move forward with plans to add a fourth French-made frigate to its navy as part of a military buildup, the defence minister said Wednesday.
The new Belharra-class frigate has “increased capabilities”, Nikos Dendias said after a meeting of Greece’s top security council, and legislation on its acquisition will be submitted to parliament later Wednesday.
Greece has announced plans to spend 25 billion euros ($30 billion) through 2036 in what conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called the “most drastic” defence overhaul in its modern history.
The drive, which includes a new anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone defensive dome called “Achilles’s Shield”, is aimed at addressing rapidly changing geopolitical challenges and fraying transatlantic ties, Mitsotakis told parliament in April.
Greece has traditionally invested at least two percent of gross domestic product on its defence — NATO’s longstanding spending target until recently — owing to decades of tension with regional rivals Turkey.
It has already ordered 24 Rafale fighter jets and three Belharra-class defence and intervention frigates (FDI) from France for a total of more than 5.5 billion euros.
Source: AFP
