A new wave of mergers in the Armed Forces, this time of units and formations, was announced today by the Minister of National Defence, Nikos Dendias, in the context of the New Structure of the Armed Forces.

“We have made a new structure, we have proceeded and will proceed with mergers of camps, units, formations, but the main thing is to change the culture. The culture, the way things are handled,” Dendias pointed out, adding that “the Achilles’ Shield is not only a new approach to weapon systems with a holistic dimension, it is this new culture,” speaking at the two-day conference “Greece 2025-2030”, organized by Next is Now and Dome Consulting Firm.

He left open the possibility of further upgrading the “Shield”, saying that “the country’s defense includes everything: The five layers of the Shield and the sixth by the way, the satellite, which we hope to add in the future,” and disclosed the integration of the anti-drone”Centaurus” in all ships of the Navy.

“We will buy the Centaurus for all Greek ships from now on. Its cost is about half of what it would be if we bought a similar system from abroad. But it is a Greek system,” the Defense Minister noted, while focusing on the Greek participation “even in the purchases from the large platforms” at 25%.

“The first major success was the implementation of the discussion on the purchase of a fourth Belharra frigate, which will be added to the other three. I open brackets, a frigate which like the previous two, not the previous three, will carry strategic weapons. That is, cruise missiles, the new generation of SCALP Naval. This is also an element of the new response,” Dendias remarked.

At a time when “if we look at what the country from which the main threat to us, Turkey, is spending, our ratio is about one to nine to one to ten,” the Defence Minister said, commenting on the words of PASOK President Nikos Androulakis.

“National approach”

“If there is one thing I fully share from what Mr Androulakis said earlier, it is that a national approach is required, a national identification on the issues on which there is room for dialogue, but there must be a national syntax behind a final decision,” Dendias concluded.