Greece is accelerating efforts to build a robust home-grown defence industry, propelled by the success of its domestically developed anti-drone system, Centauros.
During its first test with a European Union naval patrol in the Red Sea last year, Centauros demonstrated its capabilities by detecting and neutralizing two drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi forces, while jamming two others to force their retreat, said Kyriakos Enotiadis, electronics director at the state-run Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), which produces the system, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Centauros can detect drones from up to 150 km (93 miles) away and engage targets at a range of 25 km (15.5 miles). The Greek government plans to deploy it widely across its naval fleet.
“It’s the only battle-proven anti-drone system made in Europe,” Enotiadis noted, as HAI employees assembled electronic components nearby.
Currently, Greece relies mostly on imported intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) drones, sourced mainly from France and Israel. But a €30 billion plan to modernize Greece’s armed forces by 2036 includes developing indigenous anti-drone and combat drone technologies.
By 2026, HAI will begin mass production of two additional portable anti-drone systems, Iperion and Telemachus, aimed at protecting troops against drone swarms and miniature lethal drones.
HAI also plans to unveil its first large unmanned aerial vehicle, Archytas, named after the ancient Greek inventor who reportedly created the first autonomous flying machine in 400 BC.
“We are striving for this UAV to be the best of its kind,” said Nikos Koklas, HAI’s director of new products.
Greece’s complex geopolitical position, including a historic rivalry with neighboring Turkey—a major drone exporter and NATO ally—has driven the country to spend nearly 3.5% of GDP on defence. However, its domestic defence industry currently accounts for a small fraction of that expenditure.
The newly founded Hellenic Centre for Defence Innovation (HCDI) plans to invest around €800 million ($925 million) in defence technology over the next decade.
“Our target is to export as much as we spend on defence annually,” said Pantelis Tzortzakis, HCDI’s CEO.
Private firms like Altus have also entered the market, producing combat drones such as Kerveros, a vertical take-off and landing UAV equipped with advanced anti-tank missiles, already exported to five countries.
“Greece has a great need for this technology,” said Zacharias Sarris, co-owner of Altus.
