View source for Hellenic Armed Forces

{{Short description|Military forces of Greece}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Expand German|Griechische Streitkräfte|date=January 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox national military
| name = Hellenic Armed Forces
| native_name = {{lang|el|Eλληνικές Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις}}
| image = [[File:Coat of arms of Greece military variant.svg|170px]]
| alt = 
| caption = Coat of arms of the Hellenic Armed Forces
| image2 = 
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| motto = 
| founded = 1828
| current_form = 1975
| disbanded = 
| branches = {{tree list}}
* {{army|Greece}}
* {{navy|Greece}}
* {{air force|Greece}}
{{tree list/end}}
| headquarters = [[Athens]], [[Greece]]
| flying_hours = 
| website = <!--{{URL|example.mil}}-->
<!-- Leadership -->| commander-in-chief = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_President_of_Greece.svg|size=25px}} [[Konstantinos Tasoulas]]
| commander-in-chief_title = [[President of Greece|President]]
| chief minister = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_Greece.svg|size=25px}} [[Kyriakos Mitsotakis]]
| chief minister_title = [[Prime Minister of Greece|Prime Minister]]
| minister = {{flagicon image|Naval_rank_flag_of_the_Minister_of_Defence_of_Greece.svg|size=25px}} [[Nikos Dendias]]
| minister_title = [[Minister for National Defence (Greece)|Minister of National Defense]]
| commander = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff.svg|size=25px}} [[General]] {{ill|Dimitrios Houpis|el|Δημήτριος Χούπης}} <ref>{{cite news | url=https://greekcitytimes.com/2024/01/12/dimitris-houpis-greek-military-chief/| title=Dimitris Houpis is the new Greek military chief | work=Greek City Times | date=January 13, 2024 | accessdate=January 13, 2024}}</ref>
| commander_title = [[Hellenic National Defense General Staff|Chief of the General Staff]]
<!-- Manpower -->| age = 18
| conscription = [[Conscription in Greece|Yes]]
| active = 142,700<ref name=IISSp110>{{cite book| url=https://www.iiss.org/publications/the-military-balance/the-military-balance-2021| title=The Military Balance 2021| author1=International Institute for Strategic Studies| author-link1=International Institute for Strategic Studies| date=25 February 2021| publisher=[[Routledge]]| location=[[London]]| page= 110| isbn=9781032012278}}</ref>
| reserve = 221,350<ref name=IISSp110/>
| ranked = 
| deployed = <!-- Financial -->
| amount = € 6.13 billion (2025)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.defence-point.gr/proypologismos-chrimata-gia-tin-amyna-dystychos-den-echoyme |title=Προϋπολογισμός: Χρήματα για την άμυνα δυστυχώς ΔΕΝ έχουμε… |date=2024-12-21 |access-date=2025-08-06 |publisher=defence-point.gr |language=el}}</ref>
| percent_GDP = 3.08% (2024) <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf#page=9 |title=Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014-2024) |access-date=2025-08-06 |publisher=NATO |language=en}}</ref>
<!-- Industrial -->| domestic_suppliers = 
| foreign_suppliers = 
| imports = 
| exports = <!-- Related articles -->
| history = [[Military history of Greece]]
| ranks = [[Greek military ranks]]
}}

The '''Hellenic Armed Forces''' ({{langx|el|Eλληνικές Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις|Ellinikés Énoples Dynámis}}) lead the military forces of [[Greece]]. The Hellenic Armed Forces consists of the [[Hellenic Army]], the [[Hellenic Navy]], [[Hellenic Air Force]] and [[Hellenic Coast Guard]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-12-08 |title=134th ARW refuels Hellenic Air Force F-16s during Thracian Sentry 23. |url=https://www.134arw.ang.af.mil/News/videoid/888131/dvpTag/ARW/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.134arw.ang.af.mil |language=en-US}}</ref>

The civilian authority overseeing the Hellenic Armed Forces is the [[Ministry of National Defence (Greece)|Ministry of National Defense]].

==History==
{{Main| History of the Hellenic Army| History of the Hellenic Navy| History of the Hellenic Air Force}}
The Greek military, encompassing the army and navy, was established during the [[Greek War of Independence|war of independence]] from [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule in 1821. The Hellenic Air Force was later introduced in September 1912 as the third arm of the military. Throughout the [[Balkan Wars]] of 1912/1913, the Greek armed forces achieved significant victories against the Ottoman and Bulgarian armies, effectively expanding Greece's territorial boundaries. The [[Kingdom of Greece]] aligned with the Entente powers during [[World War I]] and participated in the intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1919.

However, the conflict between Greece and Turkey, [[Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)|reignited]] in the early 1920s, [[Turkish capture of Smyrna|concluded in the autumn of 1922]] with a severe setback for Greece, known as the "Asia Minor Catastrophe." In World War II, under the leadership of dictator [[Ioannis Metaxas]], Greece rebuffed an ultimatum for surrender from Italy on October 28, 1940. Greek forces managed to repel the [[Greco-Italian War|Italian invasion]], [[Battle of Pindus|driving them back]] across the Albanian border. Nonetheless, the combined forces of the German [[Wehrmacht]] and Bulgarian military in [[German invasion of Greece|April and May 1941]] (during the [[Balkans campaign (World War II)|Balkan campaign]]) overpowered Greek resistance. Subsequent to this defeat, segments of the Greek army evacuated to Egypt, where they joined the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] in continuing the struggle against Axis forces. Following the German withdrawal in 1944, Greece was embroiled in a [[Greek Civil War|civil wa]]r from March 1946 until October 1949.

Greek soldiers [[Greek Expeditionary Force (Korea)|also participated]] in the [[Korean War]] from 1951 to 1955. Since February 18, 1952, Greece has been a fully-fledged member of [[NATO]].

===Conscription===
Greece currently has universal compulsory military service for males from and over 18 years of age. Under Greek law, all men over 18 years of age [[Conscription in Greece|must serve in the Armed Forces for a period of 9-12 months]]. Women can serve in the Greek military on a voluntary basis, but cannot be conscripted.

===Budget===
{{See also|List of countries in Europe by military expenditures}}According to NATO sources in 2008, Greece spent 2.8% of GDP on its military, which translated to about €6.9 billion (US$9.3 billion).<ref name="globalsecurity.org">{{cite web |title=Greece - Military Spending |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/gr-budget.htm |publisher=globalsecurity.org}}</ref> In 2008, Greece was the largest importer of conventional weapons in Europe and its military spending was the highest in the European Union relative to the country's GDP, reaching twice the European average.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Frank Slijper |title=Guns, Debt and Corruption Military spending and the EU crisis |url=https://www.tni.org/files/download/eu_milspending_crisis.pdf |date=April 2013}}</ref><ref name="globalsecurity.org"/>

Data for the 2023 fiscal year showed an estimated expense of €5.5 billion in constant 2015 prices, or €6.2 billion in current prices,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014-2024) |url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf#page=7 |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=NATO |format=PDF}}</ref> equivalent to 2.80% of GDP (-1.08 change since 2022).<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014-2024) |url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf#page=9 |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=NATO |format=PDF}}</ref> For the 2024 fiscal year, the expenditure was estimated at €6.1 billion in constant 2015 prices or €7.1 billion in current prices,<ref name=":0" /> equivalent to 3.08% of GDP (+0.28% change since 2023).<ref name=":1" />

===Military personnel===
Military personnel was estimated at 111,000 for year 2023 and 110,800 for year 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2014-2024) |url=https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf#page=13 |access-date=2025-08-06 |website=NATO |format=PDF}}</ref>

===International operations===
Greece is an [[European Union|EU]] and [[NATO]] member and currently participates primarily in [[peacekeeping]] operations. Such operations are [[International Security Assistance Force|ISAF]] in [[Afghanistan]], [[European Union Force|EUFOR]] in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Chad]], and [[Kosovo Force|KFOR]] in [[Kosovo]]. Greece also maintains a [[Hellenic Force in Cyprus|small force]] in Cyprus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας επισκέφθηκε στρατόπεδο της ΕΛΔΥΚ |url=https://riknews.com.cy/article/2023/4/12/o-proedros-tes-demokratias-episkephtheke-stratopedo-tes-elduk/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Ο Πρόεδρος της Δημοκρατίας επισκέφθηκε στρατόπεδο της ΕΛΔΥΚ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Participation of Hellenic Armed Forces in KFOR – Interconnection of Military* Hospitals |date=23 November 2019 |url=https://www.imiho.org/2019/11/23/participation-of-hellenic-armed-forces-in-kfor/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=GEETHA |date=2019-11-20 |title=Afghanistan (ISAF) |url=https://geetha.mil.gr/en/afghanistan-isaf/ |access-date=2023-05-13 |website=Hellenic National Defence General Staff - Official Website |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Component forces and their organization ==

=== Hellenic National Defense General Staff ===
{{Main| Hellenic National Defense General Staff}}

The Hellenic National Defense General Staff has the operational command of the Joint Armed Forces Headquarters and the units that operate under them. It is also responsible for organising and implementing routine operations and exercises of the Joint Armed Forces, coordinating and implementing operations during the management of wartime and peacetime crises and overseeing operations of the Hellenic Armed Forces outside Greek national territory.<ref name="autogeneratedmil">{{cite web| url = http://www.mod.mil.gr/Pages/MainAnalysisPage2.asp?HyperLinkID=2&MainLinkID=25| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050307100054/http://www.mod.mil.gr/Pages/MainAnalysisPage2.asp?HyperLinkID=2&MainLinkID=25| archive-date = 2005-03-07| title = mod.gr - - . .}}</ref>

===Hellenic Army===
{{Main| Hellenic Army}}

The basic components of the Hellenic Army are Arms and Corps. The former is responsible for combat missions and the latter for logistical support. It is organized in Commands, Formations, and Units with the main being [[brigade]], [[division (military)|division]] and [[corps]]. Its main mission is to guarantee the territorial integrity and independence of the country.<ref name="autogeneratedmil"/>

===Hellenic Navy===
{{Main| Hellenic Navy}}

The Hellenic Navy incorporates a modern fleet consisting of strike units, such as [[frigate]]s, [[gunboat]]s, [[submarine]]s and [[Missile boat|fast attack guided missile vessels]] and multiple types of support vessels, in order to be able to conduct naval operations that protect Greek national interests and guarantee the integrity of Greek territorial waters,  the mainland and the islands.<ref name="autogeneratedmil"/>

===Hellenic Air Force===
{{Main| Hellenic Air Force}}

The Hellenic Air Force incorporates a modern aircraft fleet and congruent structure, combined with a comprehensive air defense system that consists of a widespread network of [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft weapons]]. The structure, which is overseen by the [[Hellenic Air Force#Organization|Air Force General Staff]], includes the Tactical Air Force Command, the Air Force Support Command, the Air Force Training Command and a number of other independent defense units and services.<ref name="autogeneratedmil"/> Its main mission is to defend Greek airspace and to provide combat support to the Hellenic Army and the Hellenic Navy.

==See also== 
{{Portal|Greece}}
* [[Greek military ranks]]
* [[Hellenic Republic Ministry of National Defense|Hellenic Republic / Ministry of National Defense]]
* [[List of Greek military bases]]
* [[Military history of Greece]]
* [[Military history of Greece during World War II]]
* [[Athens War Museum]]
* [[War Museum of Thessaloniki]]
* [[Achilles Shield]]
* [[Centauros anti drone system]]
* [[Greek defense modernization plan (2025–2036)]]
* [[Iperion anti drone system]]
* [[Telemachus Jammer]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.mod.mil.gr/ Hellenic Ministry of Defense – official website]
* [http://www.geetha.mil.gr/ Hellenic National Defense General Staff – official website]
* [http://www.army.gr/ Hellenic Army General Staff – official website]
* [http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/ Hellenic Navy General Staff – official website]
* [http://www.haf.gr/en/ Hellenic Air Force General Staff – official website]
* [https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2019_11/20191129_pr-2019-123-en.pdf Defense expenditures of NATO countries]

{{Greece topics}}
{{Greek Military}}
{{Greek security forces}}
{{Military of Europe}}
{{Militaries of European Union member states}}
{{North Atlantic Treaty Organization}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Military Of Greece}}
[[Category:Military of Greece| ]]
[[Category:Permanent Structured Cooperation]]