*Athanasios Tsakalos

This article attempts to review the multifaceted work and activities of the Republic of Cyprus’ domestic defence industry during the first half of the year 2023.

In recent years, the Republic of Cyprus has claimed its own place in the European and wider Defence Ecosystem, holding a substantial part of the map of those countries active in the demanding Defence sector (in Research and Development programs) despite its small size.

The dynamics that have shaped, among others, the course of the Cypriot Defence Industry over the years are linked to the geopolitical developments and changes in the security environment, which created the prospects of Europe emerging as an increasingly important defence-industrial actor.

Within this context, the goal is the creative development and cooperation with EU member countries, which will bring about the transformation of the nascent and promising Cypriot Defence Industry within this decade into a substantial force multiplier for the island’s Armed Forces as well as a solid driving factor of the wider potential of domestic economic development.

Moving in that direction, the domestic defence industry has taken decisive action through a series of steady steps towards achieving specific and measurable goals.

Also read: BATTLEFIELD ReDEFiNED 2023 | The emerging Cypriot Defence Industry – EU Funding Opportunities

The first step concerns the successful completion of the 1st International Defence and Security Conference in Cyprus entitled BATTLEFIELD ReDEFiNED 2023 on January 24, 2023.

The conference attendees exceeded 180 in total, while among the distinguished guests were the (former) Minister of Defence, Mr. Charalambos Petridis, the President of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, Marinos Sizopoulos, the Ambassador of Greece, H.E Papamelitou Giorgos, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E Vladimir Němec, the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Dimokritos Zervakis, and Defence attachés from France, the United Kingdom and Egypt.

The former Minister of Defence Mr. Charalampos Petridis during his speech at the conference 

The conference was also attended by representatives of the European Commission and the European Defence Agency, the President and members of the Hellenic Aerospace Security and Defence Industries Group (HASDIG), officers of the National Guard, the Cyprus Police and the Fire Service.

At the corporate level, more than 10 companies from Greece, Cyprus and large companies of the European defence industry participated actively and interactively with stands and exhibits such as unmanned aircraft, unmanned vehicles and electronic warfare systems.

Also read: BATTLEFIELD ReDEFiNED 2023 | European Defence Initiatives and the Cyprus Defence Industry

However, what attracted the attendees’ attention was the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Cyprus Association of Research and Innovation Enterprises (CARIE) and HASDIG in the presence of the Greek ambassador and the Minister of Defence, which paves the way for creative and productive collaborations between the two organizations.

Exchange of memorables during the signing of the memorandum 

The said Conference was successfully held, because during its proceedings a wide range of systems, technologies and methodologies were presented by lecturers, university professors, researchers and highly prestigious executives, while at the same time, it created the conditions in which the attendees exchanged views and created strong networking.

Generally, the conference constituted a good basis for strengthening the defence and security ecosystem for Cyprus. Through the special thematics, all those elements that really redefine the modern battlefield were presented.

Also read: Summing up the 1st International Conference on Defence and Security BATTLEFIELD ReDEFiNED 2023 | Photos and VIDEOS

The second important step was the European recognition of CARIE and of the Cypriot Defence Industry on 02 March 2023 as a product of their participation in the European Network of Defence-related Regions (ENDR), in which more than fifty industrial links and clusters from all over Europe participate.

Almost 1⃣4⃣0⃣ participants joined the European Network of Defence-related Regions #ENDR event in #Lisbon🇵🇹❗️

Stakeholders from the #EUDefenceIndustry 🇪🇺🛡️gathered to discuss the challenges for European #SMEs, and more than 1⃣7⃣0⃣ B2B meetings🤝 took place on site and online💡 pic.twitter.com/UfWkKU1kaH

— 🇪🇺 DG DEFIS #StrongerTogether (@defis_eu) March 3, 2023

The ENDR network, which is supported by the European Commission and the Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DEFIS), promotes a strong and innovative European defence industry by promoting the development of the necessary defence capabilities, agreed by Member States in 2016 when the Commission adopted the European Defence Action Plan.

Also read: CARIE | Participation in the European Network of Defence-related Regions (ENDR)

Moving on we had the presence of the Cyprus Pavilion at the international defence exhibition DEFEA 2023 between May 9-11 in Athens, an exhibition organized by CARIE under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence, is evaluated as dynamic and important.

At DEFEA, Cyprus participated for the second time with its own National Pavilion hosting 6 innovative Cypriot companies members of CARIE (SignalGeneriX, Cyric, Cellock, Amadema, Additess and Encorp) and the emerging Cypriot Defence Industry, which are active in research and development as well as commercially in the field of defence and security.

The presence of numerous diplomatic missions and 350 representatives of leading defence companies from 27 countries confirms that DEFEA is a point of reference for the wider region of Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, in which Cyprus plays an important role. Therefore, Cypriot innovative companies now have the opportunity to continuously present their products to new markets, but also to the largest defence exhibitions worldwide with multiple benefits for the economy of Cyprus.

The Minister of Defence Mr. Michalis Georgallas during his visit at DEFENCE’s ReDEFiNED booth at DEFEA 2023

DEFENCE ReDEFiNED was present once more at DEFEA, covering the entire exhibition with a dynamic team, with special emphasis on the Cyprus Pavilion.

Also read: DEFEA 2023 | Drones, electronic warfare systems, UGVs, security systems and much more at the Cyprus booth

Later on, and specifically on May, 05, 2023, the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Cyprus and CARIE in collaboration with the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) organized business forums and business meetings (B2B).

#HappeningNow 🇨🇾🇨🇿
The 1st Business Forum between #Cyprus and #Czech Republic in the area of #defence & #security
Supported by:
The @CyprusInCZ@DefenceCyprus @CCCI_Cyprus #CARIE (ΚΣΕΕΚ) #AOBP ČR (DSIA CR) pic.twitter.com/7tXbc4KdZL

— DEFENCE ReDEFiNED (@Def_Redefined) May 5, 2023

According to a relevant announcement, the main purpose of the meeting was the development of cooperation in the field of defence industry between companies of the two countries.

Also read: Cyprus – Czech Republic Business Forum | Development of partnerships in Security Sector and Defence Industry

Likewise, a few days later, CARIE and the Cyprus Defence Cluster with co-organizers the French Maritime Industry Association GICAN, the Direction de la Coopération de Sécurité et de Défense DCSD of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Embassy in Cyprus and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry implemented the 1st French and Cypriot Security and Defence Workshop, in which B2B meetings took place to strengthen the France-Cyprus business cooperation in Security and Defence.

🇨🇾🇫🇷#HappeningNow #french and #cypriot #security and #defence workshop @FranceaChypre @CCCI_Cyprus pic.twitter.com/Qeqpu4lwRD

— DEFENCE ReDEFiNED (@Def_Redefined) May 16, 2023

Among others, the participating companies were giants of the French Defence Industry such as KERSHIP/Naval Group, Arquus Defense and Airbus Helicopters.

In fact, after the end of the first day of the workshop on 16 May, 2023 and at a reception hosted by the Ambassador of France, Ms. Salina Grene Catalano, CARIE, through its President, Dr. Tasos Kounoudis, signed together with the French Maritime Industry Association GICAN a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to strengthen the cooperation of the two defence industries.

Also read: CARIE – GICAN | MoU signed for cooperation in the fields of Security and Defence

Alongside the French-Cypriot workshop, the 3rd Cyprus Defence & Security Conference, CYPSEC 2023, was organized in Nicosia.

Also read: CYPSEC 2023 | 3rd Cyprus International Defence & Security Conference completes successfully in Nicosia

Additionally, the first European Defence Innovation Day (EDID) is deemed important as the event was organized by the European Defence Agency (EDA) under the auspices of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 31 May, 2023. 

The proceedings provided a first-class opportunity to further develop European defence innovation and maximize synergies between policy and defence innovation, while a high-level conference was combined with a special exhibition that presented and showcased European excellence in defence innovation. Greece and Cyprus participate in EDID through 31 and 12 entities respectively with the aim of highlighting their domestic defence ecosystems.

Also read: EDA | European Defence Innovation Day – Conference & Exhibition

Subsequently, the first “Innovation Workshop and Speed Networking Event” was successfully completed in the field of Innovation. The Conference was organized on the initiative of the Cyprus Institute on 09 June 2023, in collaboration with CARIE, and the support of the European research program “EUROCC2” Computation-based Science and Technology Research Center, the “EMME-CARE” program and the European network “DiGINN Hub”.

According to a statement of the Cyprus Institute shared by CARIE, the event was held under the auspices of the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Mr. Filippos Hatzizacharias.

Photo from the Innovation Workshop and Speed Networking Event

As the announcement states, the conference is the first of many conferences that will follow in the future and was the first meeting and networking of the research/academic staff of the Cyprus Institute with Cypriot companies active in the field of applied research and innovation, within the context of a wider effort to bridge the existing gap between the research and industry sectors of Cyprus.

Also read: University of Nicosia | Defence and Security Institute for Research in advanced technologies

Other actions such as the teleconference between the members of the Board of CARIE, Dr. Charis Zacharatos and a representative of the Italian-Cypriot Chamber of Commerce on June 28, 2023, contributed to strengthening the cooperation between companies of the two countries in the fields of Defence and Security.

Photo from the Defence Research and Innovation Day

Finally, we witnessed the Defence Research and Innovation Day organized by the Ministry of Defence and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry with the participation of the Ministry of National Defence of Greece as well as the defence industries of the two countries with representatives from CARIE and HASDIG. The Conference took place on 04 July 2023 at the facilities of the Ministry of Defence.

The President of CARIE Dr.  Tasos Kounudes together with DEFENCE’s ReDEFiNED journalist Nasos Kolovos

Asked by DEFENCE ReDEFiNED about how he and CARIE evaluate our entire effort, the President of CARIE, Dr. Tasos Kounoudis, stated that “In the first 6 months of 2023, the Cypriot Defense Industry has significant international successes to demonstrate.  There was a very successful presence at DEFEA 2023 in Athens, with a National Pavilion and the participation of 6 CARIE member companies. We again achieved the participation of Cypriot Companies in EDF 2022 contracts for the development of European Defence contracts worth 102 million euros, we signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with the respective bodies of Greece and France and we organized conferences and days of defence industrial cooperation with Greek, Czech and French companies.  The Cypriot Defense Industry is today a rapidly and dynamically developing industry with an international orientation.”

Visit of the Ministers of Defense of Greece and Cyprus as well as  other officials at the Cyprus Pavilion during DEFEA 2023

As a member of C.D Multimedia Services Ltd, the first company in Cyprus which is active in the field of Defence Marketing, DEFENCE ReDEFiNED will contribute to and support every effort to strengthen the Defence and Security ecosystem in Cyprus.

In the following video, you can watch the discussion held, among others, about the role of CARIE and the European Perspective of the Cypriot Defence Industry.

Also read: Podcast S2E8 | Armaments race in Greece and Cyprus – The vision of 2030

*Cover Photo from DEFEA 2023. Watch the statements here.