Greece’s state military factories will soon be in a position to triple their drone output to 15,000 a year, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said Thursday, upping an earlier estimate.
Dendias spoke during a visit to a military production facility near the northern town of Xanthi which, he said, together with another facility near Athens currently produces 5,000 drones yearly.
Dendias added that once a third facility opens in December in Malakasa, north of Athens, output will triple to 15,000 a year.
“So we have reached the point where our armed forces are very quickly entering the new era,” Dendias said. “Drones allow us observation, scouting and aggressive abilities.”
He added that, compared to the current output ability, at the end of 2023 Greece’s drone fleet consisted of two Israeli-made medium-altitude, long-endurance Heron drones that could not be simultaneously deployed, and 252 industrially-produced devices that “with all respect, were Jumbo-level” – in reference to a popular Greek low-budget toy chain.
