Greece Closes 56 Units and 126 Sites, Adds an Unmanned Systems Brigade at Litochoro and a Space Command
Athens, 20 October 2026
Key points
- Nikos Dendias presented the third phase of the New Force Structure on 20 October: 56 units and 126 facilities and camps merged or closed, for savings the ministry puts at EUR 530 million over five years — 360 million Army, 120 million Navy, 50 million Air Force — and up to 600 million more from low-capability materiel
- The Army gets an Unmanned Systems Brigade at Litochoro and an unmanned logistics unit; the Navy unmanned-vessel bases, a training centre and an Electronic Warfare Command; the Air Force bases for unmanned and collaborative aircraft, and a joint 309 factory for unmanned systems is planned
- A Space Operations Command in the Air Force plans one geostationary and three further communications satellites, six optical, three signals-intelligence and three radar satellites, alongside IRIS², with 16 dual-use optical satellites already in low orbit; a Cyberspace Command follows
- A bill goes to cabinet and then parliament: government-to-government contracting, a restructured armaments directorate, an active reserve, a 200-day cap at sea, and a minimum 25 per cent national participation in armament programmes
Greece is closing units and camps to pay for drones, satellites and people, and is writing a domestic-industry quota into law.
The New Force Structure is Dendias's reorganisation of the armed forces under the Agenda 2030 programme; its earlier phases merged and closed camps. The third phase puts unmanned systems into the order of battle of all three services, and gives space a command of its own with a constellation plan that would give Greece its own optical, radar and signals-collection satellites. The savings are to be returned to personnel and operations; the ministry gave no budget for the satellites. The figures are as reported from the presentation by To Vima and carried in Signal No. 171.
The 25 per cent floor will be decided by how participation is counted, not by the number. Athens set the same share for Achilles Shield in July; by the signing on 31 August outlets were reporting it variously as a quarter, 22.5 per cent and about EUR 700 million across twelve companies. A statutory minimum turns a negotiated share into a condition of every bid. The bill's text, when it reaches parliament, will show whether subcontracts, integration and through-life support count towards it.
Related · Greek force modernisation
