Israel's Defense Ministry has said that the source code underlying Greece's new "Achilles' Shield" air defense system will remain under exclusive Greek control, seeking to defuse a political controversy in Athens over the terms of the joint program.
In a statement, the ministry said recent claims about source code supporting Israel's own operational systems "are not related" to the Achilles' Shield agreement, under which a dedicated Greek source code will be developed with Israeli support.
It said Israel agreed to transfer decades of operational expertise and technical support so Greek companies can build the system's central command-and-control software, keeping the resulting code and any modifications under Greek control and tailored to Greek requirements.
The clarification followed a stir triggered by comments from Moshe Patel, head of Israel's Missile Defense Organization and one of the program's chief architects, that appeared to contradict earlier public assurances from Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias.
Mr. Dendias had repeatedly stressed that Greece's armed forces do not acquire weapons systems without source code, calling access to the command-and-control code "absolutely pivotal" in a July briefing, and warning that without it Greece risked becoming "hostage" even to its closest allies.
The 3.035-billion-euro deal with Israel includes the Spyder, Barak MX and David's Sling missile systems, new radars and a unifying command-and-control network, deployed in three tiers covering ranges up to 40, 150 and 300 kilometers, and designed to integrate with Greece's Patriot, S-300, F-16, Rafale and F-35 platforms.