The Government Council for Foreign and Defense Affairs (KYSEA), Greece's top decision-making body on foreign affairs and defense matters, approved on Tuesday the acquisition of Israeli weapons systems.
The exhaustive negotiations with the Israelis seem to have borne fruit, and the program was approved at the meeting presided over by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The approval is for at least 300 Spice bombs, which are air-to-surface precision guided munitions manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. These general-purpose bombs are similar to those destroyed in the fire at the Nea Anchialos weapons depot last month.
Greece also plans to acquire Rampage missiles, an air-to-surface weapon developed by Israel Military Industries.
The acquisition of Israeli-made weapons will significantly enhance the attack capabilities of both the upgraded Viper version of the F-16s and the older Block 50/30s. This has been a longstanding request of the Hellenic Air Force and Hellenic National Defense General Staff (GEETHA). While Greece has one of the largest and most modern fleets of F-16s, it lacked the necessary weapons to fully utilize their capabilities.
The next step will be for the General Directorate of Defense Equipment and Investments to finalize the agreement so that Greece and Israel can sign an interstate agreement as soon as possible.
