Item 1 of 5 An employee inspects a panel of printed circuit boards (PCBs) at the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), in Tanagra, north of Athens, Greece, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi
[1/5] An employee inspects a panel of printed circuit boards (PCBs) at the Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), in Tanagra, north of Athens, Greece, July 3, 2025. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
ATHENS, Aug 5 (Reuters) – It took just minutes for a new Greek-made anti-drone system to show what it is capable of.
On its first test run with a European Union patrol in the Red Sea a year ago, the Centauros system detected and swiftly brought down two aerial drones launched by Yemen’s Houthis, who have been attacking merchant vessels in the busy shipping lane.
Another two drones swiftly retreated: Centauros had jammed their electronics, said Kyriakos Enotiadis, electronics director at state-run Hellenic Aerospace Industry (HAI), which produces the anti-drone system.
The successful test run added impetus to Greek government plans to develop a home-grown industry to mass produce anti-drone and drone systems – part of a 30-billion-euro programme aimed at modernising the country’s armed forces by 2036.
Named after the mythological half-man, half-horse creature, Centauros can detect drones from a distance of 150 km (93 miles) and fire from 25 km (15.5 miles). Greece plans to install it throughout its naval fleet.
“It’s the only battle-proven anti-drone system (made) in Europe,” Enotiadis said, as dozens of employees worked nearby, assembling electronic components of anti-aircraft missiles.
Up until now, Greece has been using only a few dozen ISR – intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), most of them made abroad, including in France and Israel.