Defense Minister calls for creation "domestic defense industry"

Minister of National Defense of Greece Nikos Dendias called for the creation domestic defense industrysince the country spends a lot of money on the purchase of imported weapons.

He stressed that it is unacceptable for the production of the domestic defense industry to be “zero or almost zero” in a country that spends so much on weapons systems for its own needs.

In an interview with the kathimerini newspaper published on Sunday, he said that “the armed forces need to enter a new era, which the government calls ‘Armed Forces 2030’.”

Mr. Dendias noted that it was for this reason that recent changes in the leadership of the armed forces “reached beyond the chiefs of staff and became the basis for a more comprehensive approach.”

Dendias also emphasized the need to develop domestic arms production rather than buy “everything abroad and nothing to be produced ourselves.”

He noted that recent conflicts in Ukraine, the Caucasus and the Gaza Strip have shown that the doctrines currently followed by the Greek armed forces must be studied and revised to a large extent, since a radically different approach is needed.

“Ukraine has made it clear that responsibility for decision-making should lie at a lower level, and lower and mid-level officers should be able to act independently and make decisions.”– he said.

Officers who question the decision should also be rewarded, he added, noting that “the Hellenic Air Force needs a properly functioning Greek aerospace industry.”

Dendias promised to soon introduce a bill regarding military innovationlinking the country’s production capacity with the needs of the general staffs, and stated that the government’s goal was to create a system “completely different from what has existed until now.”

PS The idea of ​​having our own weapons production is absolutely logical and correct, but what relation low-, middle-level, and even senior-level officers may have to the production of weapons is completely unclear. After all, this issue is the prerogative of the Ministry of Defense, and not the armed forces, that is, Nikos Dendias directly.

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