Athens is reevaluating its decision to acquire French-made Patroller drones to meet the Greek Army’s needs for surveillance and information gathering, and is considering alternative options, Kathimerini understands.
Although the program has not been canceled yet and the procurement process is still underway, officials with knowledge of the developments estimate that the margins for acquiring the French unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are narrowing.
The reasons for the second thoughts are, on the one hand, the long delays and problems in the installation of the Link-16 terminal, which is required for the Patrollers to acquire interoperable features – a capability that Athens had set as a necessary condition.
On the other hand, the French government itself cancel its own order from maker Safran Electronics & Defense on April 8, after six years of delays, even raising doubts about the drone’s operational capabilities, with French military commanders stating that it is too slow, too large, and too easily detectable by the electronic warfare systems now used in modern battlefields.
The Hellenic Army Aviation, which procured four Patroller UAVs through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), expected the delivery of the first drone in late 2024. The €55 million contract for the supply of the drones was signed on June 19, 2023, however, by the end of 2025 only one prototype UAV had completed flight tests.
