Greece refuses "free" Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which would have cost $2 billion

The Greek Ministry of Defence has refused US assistance in the form of 164 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which the US planned to transfer to the country from its storage warehouses.

Here's What We Know

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias has revealed the real cost of receiving Bradley infantry fighting vehicles from the United States, which were offered to Athens in 2020. In addition, according to him, under the terms of this offer, the vehicles were transferred from storage warehouses free of charge, and the payment concerned only logistics costs.

Also, all possible repair and modernisation costs were to be borne by the Greek side. And in July 2024, it was reported that as a result of the inspection of 164 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles by Greek experts, it was decided to refuse to receive them because they were in poor condition.

According to the Greek Defence Review, which spoke to the head of the defence ministry, the restoration of each BMP was estimated at €8 million. This means that if 200 units were purchased, the cost would reach €1.6 billion, which Athens deemed unreasonable.

In turn, the Defense Express explained that today the new infantry fighting vehicle is not much more expensive. For example, Denmark recently ordered 115 CV9035s for €11.6 million per unit. And this is a version with an active protection system and other upgrades.

That's why Greece is leaning towards the option of newer vehicles. For example, we are talking about the KF41 Lynx from Rheinmetall. To compare prices, Hungary has contracted 218 IFVs with localised production of 172 of them in 2022 for €2 billion.

Source: Defence Review