Greece to transfer all its Soviet air defence systems to Armenia instead of Ukraine

Greece is going to transfer S-300, Tor-M1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems to Armenia and plans to replace them with Israeli-made systems.

Here's What We Know

According to the newspaper, the General Staff of the Greek Armed Forces is "at an advanced stage" of preparations for the transfer of Russian-origin weapons to Armenia. We are talking about Soviet-made S-300PMU1, Tor-M1 and Osa-AK anti-aircraft systems, which are now being given to Greek air defence units.

The country's military leadership is determined to abandon Soviet weapons. However, previous plans to transfer these systems to Ukraine were halted due to pressure from the local opposition and a lack of interest from Western partners, who did not offer compensation for the new systems.

In addition, according to the Greek newspaper Enikos, strengthening Yerevan instead of Kyiv is a strategic choice for Athens due to "very close alliance ties and a common historical pace in recent history, as well as common religious beliefs". In addition, for the Greeks, "a strong Armenia will be an excellent counterbalance to Turkish intransigence, which is openly strengthening Azerbaijan."

For the Greek government and general staff, systematic support for Armenia is a strategy that has been pursued in recent years. Already, the number of Armenian students in Greek military schools has doubled. The number of Armenian special forces training there has also increased, as has participation in new exercises.

Among the reasons for choosing Armenia are its experience with Soviet air defence systems and the availability of spare parts for their maintenance. The Greek air defence army currently has 21 Tor air defence launchers, 38 Osa air defence launchers, and 523 ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft systems.

Source: Enikos