News published a response from the Ministry of the Interior regarding a question from the Member of Parliament Mr. Kyriakos Velopoulos, on the subject of "Problems regarding the implementation of the much-anticipated Archytas UAV development program".
The response of the Ministry of Defense stated that our country is participating in the HYBRID Program for the design and development of an unmanned UAV, with long autonomy, propelled by a hydrogen cell engine.
In particular, it is stated that, "the Ministry of Defense has declared support, together with France and Croatia, for the DOPEAS "HYBRID", which recently began to be implemented in the -2- context of the European Defense Fund (EDF), with the consortium coordinator French company DELAIR and participation of the Greek company ISD.
The specific DOPEAS, with a 36-month implementation schedule, aims to design and develop an innovative, long-range unmanned A/F, propelled by an electric hydrogen cell engine. The prototype UAV will be silent and will have the possibility of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL architecture) on a small surface.
The total P/S of the program amounts to €3,356,586, with funding at a rate of 94.25%
(€3,163,714) from the EU, while the funding requirements from the Ministry of Finance are expected not to exceed €70,000.
Finally, regarding the "Archytas" program, according to EAB data, the developing air vehicle, which is intended to strengthen the Armed Forces, is already in an advanced stage of detailed design, while the first pre-industrial prototype is planned to be built within the this year, with the industrial production line coming into operation within the first quarter of the year."
What are the requirements of our country in this field
Our country's requirements in the field of unmanned aerial vehicles are known to be huge, and the cooperation with France is absolutely sure to greatly accelerate developments in this field as well.
For this matter, we have developments in both the private and public sectors.
Our country has announced its first domestically manufactured combat drone, GRYPAS, with the initial unmanned aircraft expected by 2025.
The GRYPAS drone, announced on January 13, is the second platform born from this joint production.
While the development of the drone will follow a very similar pattern to the ARHYTAS drone, its design will be based on a different concept of operations to meet different combat mission requirements.
While ARCHYTAS is intended for reconnaissance and surveillance over Greek islands, the GRYPAS drone will serve as a multipurpose system equipped for combat missions.
At the same time, the Turks have indulged in a race to build offensive unmanned aerial vehicles, but also other types, with a single purpose in the event of a Greek-Turkish conflict, that of targeting critical Greek facilities, without the "brawl" of the powerful Greek Air Force ( if this would of course be possible for them).
The fleet of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles will very likely have the main mission of "destroying infrastructure critical to our country", in any scenario we will have to consider in the Aegean, for this reason the information about a Greek electronic warfare network should it is our first priority, along with the construction of a sufficient number of Greek UCAVs, which will certainly take care of our hands.
