Greece plans to transfer its anti-aircraft systems to Armenia
26 November, 2024 S-300PMU1 air defense system on the KrAZ-260 chassis used by the Greek military. Photo: Greek Ministry of National Defense Instead of Ukraine, the Greek government is now working on transferring its Soviet air defense systems to Armenia.
Greek media Enikos reported on this. According to the publication, the General Staff of the Greek Armed Forces is "at an advanced stage" of providing Armenia with weapons systems of Russian origin. The systems in question are the Soviet-made S-300PMU1, Tor-M1, and Osa-AK anti-aircraft systems, which are in service with air defense units and are to be replaced by Israeli counterparts in the future.
It is reported that the country's military leadership is determined to abandon Soviet weapons systems. However, previous plans to transfer weapons to Ukraine were revised due to pressure from the political opposition and the lack of initiative of Western partners, who were not interested in compensating with Western equipment. They also emphasize that with the start of Western air defense systems deliveries, the Ukrainian government has allegedly "cooled down" on proposals for Soviet and Russian weapons systems.
Illustrative photo of the Greek Tor-M1 air defense system. Photo credits: Greek Armed Forces
An alternative to helping Ukraine was a plan to support Armenia. It is noted that this is not a purely Greek initiative but rather the result of cooperation with France, which also supports this country with weapons.
The Greek government sees Armenia's strengthening as a lever of influence in confronting Turkey, which has long supported Azerbaijan in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Choosing Armenia
The transfer of equipment is to be preceded by the delivery of new Israeli systems, which are to be put into service in 2026. The latter may indicate the possible date of the first arms deliveries. This country was chosen, among other things, because of the Armenian military's experience using Soviet air defense systems and the availability of the necessary spare parts for their maintenance: in recent years, due to international sanctions imposed on Russia, Russia was the only supplier of these systems to Greece.
The Greek army air defense system currently has 21 and 38 "Tor" and "Osa" air defense systems.
In addition, the balance sheet includes 523 ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft systems.
The Greek Air Force is armed with several divisions (12 units) of S-300PMU1 air defense systems.