Greece has approved the acquisition of a new Israeli-developed integrated air and missile defence system, known as Achilles Shield. The development marks one of the country’s most significant defense investments in recent years. Multi-layered defensive architectureAccording to Greek officials, the Achilles Shield will provide a multi-layered defensive architecture capable of countering ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, combat aircraft and drones through an integrated network of radars, sensors and interceptor systems. Israeli defense companies Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) are expected to supply the core technologies for the programme. Greece currently relies on a mix of U.S.-made Patriot missile batteries and older Russian-origin S-300 systems for air defence.