Greece to Build New Advanced Drone Called ‘the Griffin’

On January 12th at the Ministry of Finance, in the presence of the Minister of Finance Mr. Christos Staikouras and the Minister of National Defense Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, the memorandum of cooperation was signed between the management of the Hellenic Aviation Industry (EAB) and the rector's authorities of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki , of the University of Patras, the Democritus University of Thrace and the University of Thessaly for the design and industrial production of a second, more complex unmanned aerial vehicle (drone) for a variety of uses.

According to the Ministry of Finance, the implementation of the new program, which bears the name "Grypas" - after the mythological being, which was a symbol of power - began on Monday, January 16, taking advantage of the consistent course of work and the know-how acquired by the "Archytas" program for the research, development and industrial production of the first Autonomous Multi-Purpose Aerial Vehicle by entities of the wider public sector.

The Ministry of Finance, as the main shareholder of EAB, supports and finances this program in various ways, as it did for the "Archytas" program, aiming at the further development of domestic know-how in innovative fields, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of the company and the country as a whole . The "Grypas" program is expected to bring multiple benefits for the involved bodies and, more broadly, for the scientific community, the Greek economy and, overall, our country.

The Minister of Finance, Mr. Christos Staikouras , in his presentation on the signing of the memorandum of cooperation, pointed out the following:

In order to achieve the goal, we started an effort to establish cooperation between the Ministry of Finance, the supervised Hellenic Aviation Industry (EAB), the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Democritus University of Thrace and the University of Thessaly - "Archytas" program".

Its goal is the design and industrial production of multi-use and multi-type unmanned aerial vehicle (drone - UAV) systems.The implementation of the "Archytas" program began on September 1, 2021.

To date, this collective, national effort is progressing as planned.

After the successful test flights of the scale aircraft, both in the conventional way and in the vertical take-off-landing mode, its final design is being completed.

At the same time, the supply of necessary materials and devices continues at the EAB, the configuration of a special space for the industrial production line is progressing, and the construction of the molds begins.
In the quarter that started, the construction of the prototype vehicle will proceed.

After the completion of its construction, there will be test flights, checks, certifications, costing of alternative types of vehicles and taking over by EAB orders for the manufacture of aircraft from users.

The smooth progress of the work of the "Archytas" program and the development of a constructive cooperation with the Universities gave us the basis, in order to:

First. To call on Greek entrepreneurship, which produces or wishes to produce the necessary materials and devices for aircraft, with international competitiveness in terms of quality and prices, to coordinate its action with the EAB.

Second. Let's take the next ambitious step.
We set as our goal the design and industrial production of a second, much more complex unmanned aerial vehicle, named "Grypas".

We also strengthened our partners with the University of Patras.

We discussed this specific issue at length with the Minister of National Defense.

Our will and estimates coincided.

The harmonious cooperation with highly qualified officers of the Armed Forces of the country allows us to be more optimistic about the outcome of the new, important and demanding undertaking.
In this direction, I call on all those involved to work with honesty, consistency, reliability, productivity, efficiency and with absolute respect for the last euro of the Greek taxpayers.

In this national effort, I call upon all concerned to work to the best of their ability.

To prove that Greece has the strength and potential for significant achievements, which will strengthen, from all sides, the power of our Motherland.

To realize that they participate in writing a good page of Greek history.
Assuming that they will fully respond to our prompts, I thank them for their cooperation.
I wish us good success in our new joint effort."

The Minister of National Defense, Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos , in his statement on the signing of the memorandum of cooperation, emphasized:

Today I am in the very happy position together with the Minister of Finance, my dear friend Mr. Christos Staikouras, to be present at the signing of this memorandum of cooperation between, on the one hand, the body that will implement this program and the other necessary bodies that are the academic institutions of the country, which are represented by the present Chancellors, have shown a first sample of what they can do in terms of the design and prototype development of such an element.

I got a personal taste, when in October 2019 in a warehouse of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki laboratories I saw a prototype UAV, unmanned, which had been designed by a working group at Aristotle and the next phase was about to be put into test flights. It was just a sample of the work that can be done by the talented and qualified human resources that are the researchers, the academics, the working groups under the Professors and it is not only Aristotle, it is the University of Thessaly, the Democritus University of Thrace and the University of Patras .

Therefore, we have very positive writing samples, but we had to solve a specific exercise. In order for the country to develop through the domestic Defense Industry a type of unmanned aerial vehicle or several types of unmanned aerial vehicles, the following would have to happen:

We tried to solve this exercise together with the Minister of Finance and I am glad that the ODA also joined this exercise as a key participant. Because ODA is a key component of the domestic Defense Industry, it faces some challenges but nevertheless has talent in the form of manpower that can design such systems, know-how and the industrial infrastructure to develop a UAV as it ultimately needs to be developed as a final product. So this was the exercise we solved. Of course, the decision is shared with the Ministry of Finance, which had the opportunity to take the initiative to finance this project.

We, as the Ministry of Defense, first provide all the necessary information on the operational missions of all three Branches of the Armed Forces. The missions of one Branch differ from the other, but certainly all will contribute in terms of their own requirements.
We will determine the characteristics of the UCAV design so that the mission requirements are met. We will allocate specialized personnel, an Air Force officer has already been allocated to this project, so that he can contribute with his special knowledge, as requested by the EAB. Therefore, we will participate in the development and design of the UCAV.

We will contribute to the certification of the external loads, the writing of the operational specifications, of course also the requirements of the various users. We will provide, through the specialized staff, special consulting services, of course, and we will participate in the execution of the standard and service tests.

We will participate in the writing of the flight manuals, both for training and use by future pilots, we will perform the operational checks and special tests, a series of tasks necessary in the development of this product and the contribution, of course, of officers of the Armed Forces, of course under the prompting, agreement and assistance of the Ministry of National Defence.

Therefore, I emphasize that today is an important day, because today this project is made public with the co-signing of the parties to this memorandum. It will not be received, nor will a final result occur in a year or a few months. You know that our neighboring countries spent a lot of time, more than ten years, in order to develop their own products. We, however, can, I think, go faster, as long as an organized and coordinated beginning is made. There is infrastructure, talent, contribution of the academic institutions and I think there are the conditions with the help of the Armed Forces to have a final product.

In the meantime, in order to meet the needs, as you understand, we are doing our own planning to have the Unmanned Vehicles, where they need to be and as we want them, of course, but it is a wishful project for Greece to develop its own product in this level and not only for missions directly related to the needs of the National Defense, but multiple missions, as the Minister of Finance very correctly explained.

Let today be the day of an important beginning. This important project, with undeniable and self-evident national benefit, enters the tracks of implementation with the signing of this memorandum that unites the different pieces of the puzzle and makes us look ahead with optimism, something that will be implemented because there is every mood and every support to be done.

There is, as we said, the contribution of the academic community at the design level. There is a contribution of the industrial infrastructure in design but also the possibility to produce at the level of industrial production. There is a given contribution of the Armed Forces in order to satisfy the demands and needs and there is of course support in this way, that is, in principle, the financing of the planning phase, by the Ministry of Finance, which supervises the ODA. I am glad that together, dear Minister, dear friend Christos, in complete agreement and cooperation without fanfare, without announcements, but with specific work and timetables we will be able to start something good which I believe has already started to produce some first results, we see planned prototype,

However, we have already started to travel this road and I think that today a more solid basis of conditions is being laid that we will travel to the final product, for the benefit, as I said, of both the Armed Forces, and National Security, but also other elements who will benefit from the usefulness of these aircraft'.

On behalf of EAB, the managing director of the company, Mr. Dimitrios Papakostas , underlined, among other things, the following:

I sincerely thank the Minister of Finance Mr. Christos Staikouras for his undivided support in this particular program, and in the "Archytas" program that we started 1.5 years ago, but also for his general support to our company, which really proved itself valuable over the past three years.
I also thank the Minister of National Defense Mr. Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos for his support for the "Grypas" program.

ODA has turned the page, is entering new chapters and is finally starting to show off its skills, know-how and all that it can do."

The Rector of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Professor Mr. Nikolaos Papaioannou stated, among other things:

On the part of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, we will contribute with all our powers, so that this new, more complex, more modern unmanned aerial vehicle will really benefit all aspects of the activity of our country".

The Vice Chancellor of Academic and International Affairs of the University of Patras, Professor Mr. Dionysios Mantzavinos said:

Collaborative action by partnerships like this, involving academia, industry, and government, through the Departments of Finance and Defense, looks like it won't just be additive, it'll be multiplicative, and that's the payoff.

I want to thank the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering of the Polytechnic School of the University of Patras, which participates in this project and will give its best, with its expertise and zeal."

The Rector of the Democritus University of Thrace, Professor Mr. Fotios Maris noted:

We will continue this very successful model and the collaboration with notable and important colleagues from the other Universities with the "Grypas" program. A demanding program that you can be sure will succeed. Such programs give us the opportunity to highlight the work of Greek academic institutions, fulfilling with the greatest possible responsibility the role assigned to them by the Greek state".

The Rector of the University of Thessaly, Professor Mr. Zisis Mamouris stated:

The University of Thessaly is constantly at the forefront of innovation. He wants to achieve extroversion in every way and is at the disposal of any body that wants his services, let alone the State, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Defense, so that we can implement projects that strengthen our country".

Source: Defence Hub