ATHENS

Greece plans to develop domestically produced loitering munitions as part of efforts to modernize its defense capabilities, drawing on lessons from recent conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, local media reported Thursday.

According to the daily Kathimerini, the Hellenic Center for Defense Innovation (HCDI) has launched a tender for the project, which envisions advanced features such as swarm operations and collaborative targeting.

Defense sources cited by the paper said the system will incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess battlefield threats, prioritize targets, and operate in both land and maritime environments.

The project, still in its early stages, is backed by a projected budget of €15 million ($17.6 million).

Until the domestically developed system is operational, Greece’s first loitering munitions are expected to be the US-made Switchblade models, both the 300 and 600 variants, whose purchase was approved in December.