"Free" Bradleys Come at a Hefty Price Tag for Greece

The M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles offered to Greece as military aid are proving to be more costly than initially anticipated. Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias revealed that the cost of repairing these vehicles is comparable to the price of manufacturing new ones.

The Ministry of Defense inspected the Bradleys stored at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and found them in a state of disrepair. Estimates suggest that repairing a single Bradley could cost around €8 million, a figure that rivals the cost of producing a modern infantry fighting vehicle.

Greece was initially offered 62 Bradleys under the Excess Defense Articles (EDA) program. However, the high repair costs have led the Greek government to reconsider the purchase. Similarly, 102 Bradleys offered by BAE Systems at a discounted price have also been deemed too expensive to restore.

The United States offered the Bradleys, along with other military equipment, as a gesture of goodwill in exchange for Greece's support in providing infrastructure and facilities for U.S. military use. However, the high cost of repairing the Bradleys has raised questions about the value of this assistance.

Greece has been actively modernizing its armed forces, including plans to upgrade its Leopard 2A4 tanks and potentially purchase KF41 Lynx IFVs. The country has also received 30 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany under the Ringtausch program.