Tri-Service

What The Greek Exit Could Mean For Her Armed Forces

Greece lies on the brink. Daily cash withdrawals are restricted, banks are closed and global markets are wobbling over fears of it exiting the Euro.

Greece's military budget remains amongst the highest in the EU.

But it is only in the last few weeks that Greece's massive military spending has featured in negotiations. Surprisingly cash-strapped Greece remains one of the biggest spenders on defence in the EU, relative to its GDP.

Until recently the far-left government of Alexis Tsipras' only move to reign things in was putting the brakes on a €500m programme to upgrade five ageing US-made maritime patrol aircraft.

That shifted earlier this month when Athens offered Brussels a €200 (£143m) cut in next year's defence budget, roughly equating to a 5% reduction in spending.

Should the people of Greece ultimately vote to go it alone many will question where the money will come from to maintain its armed forces.

Earlier this year Russia signed an agreement with Greece’s mediterranean neighbour and close ally Cyprus allowing Russian naval vessels access to Cypriot ports.

Mr Tsipras and Mr Putin are certainly on speaking terms and Greece has huge swathes of dormant military real estate it's looking to monetise. NATO however would have deep concerns.

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10 Things You Need To Know About The Greek Military:

Since 2009, Greece has mandatory military service of 9 months for male citizens between the ages of 19 and 45.
Greece recently bought €1.7bn worth of German Leopard panzers
Greece has a total of 605 rotary and fixed-wing aircraft across all service branches.
Greece was ruled by a military Junta between 1967-1974 after a successful coup d’etat following political and economic instability.
On 20th March 2015, 12 Turkish fighter planes violated Greek airspace no less than 38 times.
Germany is Greece’s main arms supplier. More than a quarter of Greece’s weapons imports between 2000 and 2011 were from the country that has become its main creditor.
In February, the Chinese Navy and Greece partnered for joint military exercises.
Greece has 177,600 active frontline personnel
Figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) show that last year Greece spent €4bn on defence, 2.5% of the country’s GDP.
Panos Kammenos, leader of the coalition party of Greece, flew over a group of disputed Turkish islands, dropping a wreath and causing Turkish fighter planes to scramble.