The beginning of the post-Cold War period stimulated diversification of Greece's foreign military contacts and agreements. Diversification has occurred in both arms supply contracts and broader military cooperation agreements.

The Hellenic Armed Forces were built up progressively after World War II with British and United States aid. Between World War II and 1985, Greece received more than US$3 billion in military aid from the United States. During that period, the United States furnished the majority of Greece's major weapon systems. Between 1980 and 1990, the average annual value of United States military sales to Greece was about US$400 million. For the period 1991-93, the United States sold Greece a total of US$410 million worth of arms; at that point, Germany was the top supplier (US$480 million), followed by the United States and France (US$360 million). The United States also has exerted considerable influence in all other areas of the military, including organization, doctrine, training, and even uniforms. After 1974, and in view of the perceived United States bias toward Turkey in the Greek-Turkish conflict, Greece tried to lessen this dependence, turning to France as a partial alternative (see Karamanlis and the Restoration of Democracy , ch. 1). Nevertheless, since 1974 the United States has remained the main source of defense equipment for the Hellenic Armed Forces.

In 1964 Greece received military aid for the first time from the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), within the framework of assistance programs to other NATO members. In the decades that followed, German arms sales to Greece have increased steadily. Between 1967 and 1976, they averaged US$16.1 million per year; then, between 1979 and 1983 they averaged US$60 million per year. Under the cascading process provided for by the CFE Treaty, since 1991 Greece has received a large number of main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers, artillery pieces, mortars, and other equipment from NATO allies reducing their armaments as required by the CFE Treaty to balance reductions in the countries of the former Warsaw Pact and Soviet Union. In the early 1990s, Greece signed new defense cooperation agreements with Britain, France, Germany, Spain, and Norway. In 1994 Greece signed military agreements with nations of the former Soviet sphere in the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace initiative.

In upgrading equipment to incorporate recent technological developments, the Hellenic Armed Forces have ordered a number of major weapons systems since 1990. Special emphasis has fallen on weapons platforms whose smart-weapon capability provides a forcemultiplier effect.

In the foreseeable future, Greece will continue to import most of its defense equipment, especially for its land and air forces, mainly from the United States, with France as a secondary source. For naval equipment, Germany will remain a major supplier. The possibility of equipment purchase agreements or equipment coproduction with Russia and Israel has been considered, although no concrete measures had been taken at the end of 1994.

Data as of December 1994

NOTE: The information regarding Greece on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies and the CIA World Factbook. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Greece Military Procurement From Abroad information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Greece Military Procurement From Abroad should be addressed to the Library of Congress and the CIA.