Joint production boosts Greek shipyards and delivers combat-proven technology
Greece’s expanding partnership with Ukraine on naval drones is transforming Athens’ support for Kyiv into a practical defence-industry project with long-term strategic value. As Greek Reporter noted on 18 November, joint manufacturing at the Skaramanga shipyards and by Greek electronics and optics companies is giving domestic industry stable orders in a rapidly growing market segment. Through this cooperation, Greece becomes a co-owner — not merely a buyer — of technologies proven against the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, gaining the ability to adapt them to operational needs in the Mediterranean.
Unlike access to early-stage prototypes, Greek firms receive a full family of fifteen Ukrainian USV models, including advanced platforms such as the Sea Baby, integrated with Starlink connectivity, complex navigation modules and precision strike systems. This provides Greek engineers with hands-on insight into modern uncrewed naval warfare — a type of expertise that cannot be purchased off-the-shelf. Participation in co-development secures Greece a direct stake in the intellectual property and ensures that the technology can be tailored to regional threats.
For the Hellenic Navy, jointly produced USVs expand defensive options in the Aegean and Mediterranean. Instead of relying solely on costly large-platform procurement, Greece can field agile formations of six-to-eight drones combining reconnaissance units, missile carriers, machine-gun platforms and FPV nodes. This swarm-based approach lowers the cost of raising readiness levels and strengthens the protection of sea lanes, ports and critical energy infrastructure.
European Union benefits from re-localised defence spending and future underwater cooperation
The EU gains strategically from the programme as Athens channels funding through its long-term 2025–2036 armaments framework — and potentially through SAFE regulation credits — keeping defence money and industrial growth within the Union. Funds that would otherwise flow to suppliers outside the EU instead support European shipbuilding, electronics and defence ecosystems. The model sets a precedent for other member states: cooperation with Ukraine can be structured not only as aid but as an investment into shared production chains that reinforce Europe’s resilience.
The naval-drone initiative also opens the door to joint underwater-system development, an area in which demand is expected to surge. Greece and Ukraine are already discussing next-generation uncrewed underwater platforms for surveillance, mine warfare and infrastructure protection, ensuring that critical technologies remain under European jurisdiction rather than dispersed among external vendors.
Operational tactics refined by Ukraine in the Black Sea — combined raids, light-drone reconnaissance, and integrated strike-and-air-defence groupings — can be adapted for training Hellenic forces and other European navies. By joining the programme early, Greece positions itself as a leading EU and NATO hub for uncrewed-systems training and doctrine development. Given its maritime tradition and strong shipbuilding sector, Athens is well placed to drive Europe’s transition into the era of autonomous naval operations.
