Greece Unveils Anti-Drone System Centauros

Greece has unveiled Centauros, a battle-tested anti-drone strategy designed to neutralize UAV threats done physics warfare. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Air National Guard / CC BY SA 4

Greece is drafting planetary attraction with Centauros, a cost-effective anti-drone strategy that has already proven itself successful combat operations against Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles successful the Red Sea.

State-owned Hellenic Aircraft Industry, besides known arsenic EAV, developed the exertion to neutralize drones by jamming their connection and navigation signals alternatively than destroying them with costly rocket interceptors. As a result, Centauros is emerging arsenic a lower-cost alternate to a increasing and progressively costly battlefield threat.

Kyriakos Enotiadis, manager of EAV’s electronics sector, described Centauros arsenic a battle-tested level that provides a little pricey alternate to accepted aerial defence responses.

Greece’s anti-drone strategy focuses connected disruption

Centauros works by detecting and disrupting the vigor signals utilized by drones astatine agelong range, giving operators invaluable clip to respond earlier a menace makes it to its target.

Enotiadis said the strategy tin place the vigor waves of a UAV from rather agelong distances, making it easier and faster to halt the craft with nary request to devour ammunition. In practice, this allows forces to respond to drone threats without relying solely connected costly missiles oregon gun-based intercepts.

Its biggest vantage is cost. Because the strategy runs connected electricity, each engagement costs acold little than a modular missile-based response.

Anti-drone strategy scope and deployment options successful Greece

Centauros has a scope of 15 to 25 miles and tin prosecute aggregate targets astatine the aforesaid time. According to Enotiadis, specified capableness creates a wide protective umbrella with nary meaningful bounds connected the fig of drones the strategy tin effort to neutralize wrong its sum area.

The level besides offers flexible deployment options. Operators tin instal it astatine fixed infrastructure sites, equine it connected vehicles for mobile missions, oregon integrate it into naval platforms. Although engineers initially designed it arsenic an onboard system, they rapidly adapted it for maritime usage and integrated it into frigates.

Combat usage during cognition Aspides

Centauros gained operational credibility successful July 2024, erstwhile the Greek frigate Psara utilized it during EU Operation Aspides successful the Gulf of Aden to antagonistic Houthi drone attacks. During the mission, the vessel engaged 4 drones, changeable down two, and forced the different 2 to withdraw. According to Enotiadis, the Centauros system unsocial achieved immoderate of those interceptions.

This besides underscored the fiscal logic down physics warfare systems. Enotiadis noted that akin operations elsewhere person consumed hundreds of millions to intercept low-cost drones, portion a power-based strategy specified arsenic Centauros offers a acold much sustainable effect model.

Greece’s anti-drone strategy arsenic portion of a broader defence push

EAV says improvement of the strategy is continuing due to the fact that drone exertion evolves rapidly, with large changes appearing astir each six months. This means the institution indispensable perpetually upgrade the level to support it applicable for existent combat conditions.

Centauros is portion of a broader physics warfare effort that besides includes programs specified arsenic Hyperion and Telemachus. The strategy costs astir €2 cardinal ($2.3 million) per unit, importantly little than modular missile-based aerial defence systems.

More broadly, its rollout fits into Greece’s wider defence modernization plans. The state is investing €800 cardinal ($934 million) successful defence innovation implicit the adjacent decennary arsenic portion of a broader €30 cardinal ($35 billion) subject modernization programme moving done 2036.