CYPRUS AND GREECE TO CO-PRODUCE SMALL DRONE WITH STRIKE CAPABILITY - in-cyprus 20/7 by Andreas Pogiatzi
Nicosia and Athens will co-produce a small drone under the framework provided by the SAFE regulation, aimed at developing the National Guard’s capabilities and Cyprus’s defence industry.
The cooperation covers the development and production of a multicopter drone with intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities. philenews understands it is not an offensive system, though munitions or other explosives could be integrated into the device for target-strike missions, and it could also be converted into an FPV drone.
Defence Ministry sources told philenews that cooperation with Greece in the field of unmanned aircraft was essential, and it would have been unacceptable if a joint drone development programme with a Greek company had not been included among the other programmes under way.
The Greek company involved has previously worked with Cyprus Police, supplying the force with the advanced Edomon unmanned aircraft for long-range surveillance.
Cyprus will also be equipped, under the SAFE regulation, with the Greek anti-drone system “Kentavros,” designed and built by the Hellenic Aerospace Industry. It is an electronic warfare system created to counter the rapid rise in unmanned aircraft used both for reconnaissance and as weapons in modern conflicts.
