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According to a recent Press Release of the Greek Ministry of Finance “The two drone programs “Archytas” and “Grypas”, which have been launched, financed and supervised by the Ministry of Finance and which aim at the design and industrial production of autonomous aerial vehicles (drones) with the cooperation of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry and of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University of Patras, Democritus University of Thrace and the University of Thessaly are in the process of implementation.
Every three months the Minister of Finance reports to the citizens on the course of the drone programms implementation.
More specifically:
“Archytas” program
Its implementation started on September 1, 2021. In the last quarter:
The tests of the sub-scale model were successfully completed by the competent officers of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
The Final Design Review Meeting (Critical Design Review – CDR) was held, which certified the completion of the Design.
The establishment of the special area for the production of both the two prototypes and for the industrial production line has been completed by Hellenic Aerospace Industry.
The Hellenic Aerospace Industry has received a significant percentage of the required materials and devices, while others are expected, as they are experiencing delays due to disruptions in the supply chains. Hellenic Aerospace Industry made a trial construction of a small part of the required molds, in order to confirm their design. These samples were used for a trial construction of part of the wing of the aircraft, with complete success in confirming the design.
The reception of the devices of the system is followed by the laboratory tests of the devices and their interconnection, by the University of Thessaly, the Democritus University of Thrace and the Hellenic Aerospace Industry.
An order is given for the final manufacture of all the molds, as well as an order for the required composite materials that will be used in the construction of the ” Archytas” and immediately after that the production phase of the two prototypes begins.
This is followed by tests of the aircraft on the ground, test flights and flights to evaluate the performance of the UAV (in terms of specifications). Around the end of this year, with the end of the checks, the Hellenic Aerospace Industry will be ready to take orders for the manufacture of aircraft, for various uses.
“Grypas” program
The start of the program took place on January 15, 2023. On February 3, the kick-off meeting of those involved took place. The first phase of the program provides for the recording and analysis of the businesses in which the users wish to participate in the aircraft. This will be followed by the phases of analyzing the user requirements and their effects on the work undertaken by each participant in the program.
The representative of the Hellenic Air Force participating in the program, in collaboration with the Hellenic Aerospace Industry, has prepared a detailed record of the above, based on international standards, in order to review and appropriately modify them by the users, depending on their particular requirements.
This method seeks to significantly reduce the response time of the three users, in order to give enough time to analyze their requirements. For the immediate future, visits-meetings to the three Branches of the Greek Armed Forces are planned.
Therefore, the implementation of the two programs of national importance with the cooperation of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry and the Greek Universities, financed by the Greek citizens through the Ministry of Finance, is progressing smoothly” concludes the Press Release.