DEFEA 2023 concluded Thursday with important visits, transnational contacts and discussions aimed at laying the foundations for future industrial collaborations.
DEFEA (Defence Exhibition Athens) took place from 09-11 May at Metropolitan Expo in Athens, Greece.
Held under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence, with the cooperation of the Hellenic Manufacturers Association of Defence Material, DEFEA is organised by ROTA Exhibitions Greece.
DEFEA hosted special events, workshops, presentations and discussions, focused on the prospects of the Greek defence industry and to the modernisation of the Hellenic Armed Forces.
DEFEA 2023 also emphasised on the European and NATO initiatives like the European Defence Fund (EDF Cross-Project Conference) and NATO defence innovation initiatives, such as the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the NATO Innovation Fund.
More than 350 leading companies from 27 countries participated to DEFEA 2023 to showcase their latest technologies and cutting-edge defence systems in Land, Sea, Air, National and Cyber security systems.
First Day
The Minister of National Defence of Greece, Mr. Nikos Panagiotopoulos, inaugurated Tuesday DEFEA 2023.
Deputy Minister Mr. Nikos Chardalias, as well as the Chief of the National Defence General Staff General Konstantinos Floros attended the ceremony. Additionally, 32 official governmental and military delegations, 10 of which were headed by Ministers or Deputy Ministers of Defence where present as guests of honor of the exhibition.
After the inauguration ceremony, the Minister of National Defence of Greece had consecutive meetings with his counterparts, present in the exhibition. Mr. Panagiotopoulos also attending an open discussion under the title “Greece at the Center of Geopolitical Developments” which was focused on the Raise of the Capabilities of the Armed Forces and Extroversion of the Greek Defence Industry.
It should be noted that General Konstantinos Floros with his staff was in the exhibition early enough, to visit the central stand of the National Defence General Staff, before making a complete tour around all the exhibitors.
Second Day
On the second day, the Minister of National Defence of Greece, Nikos Panagiotopoulos had a meeting with the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Cyprus Michalis Giorgallas, while the Deputy Minister Nikos Chardalias signed a memorandum of understanding with his Slovak counterpart M. Majer and had meetings with the official military delegations of Armenia, Ghana, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff General Konstantinos Floros had an official meeting at DEFEA, with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Central African Republic, General Zephirin Mamadou.
Moreover, DEFEA 2023 was visited by main opposition party SYRIZA’s Defense Sector led by the sector head, Giorgos Tsipras. The group included former Minister of National Defence Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, former Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Toskas and former Deputy Minister of National Defence Panagiotis Rigas.
The Minister of Development and Investments Adonis Georgiadis attended an open discussion on the Greek defence industry organized by the Association of Greek Defense Equipment Manufacturers (SEKPY).
Mr. François Arbault, Director General for Defence Industry and Space, of the European Commission also gave a speech by presenting the actions of the European Defense Fund, to strengthen research and development programs.
Finally, NATO’s Directorate of Defence Investments and Technological Research (DDIT) organised a speech on the subject of the Greek innovation system and the Innovation Fund of the North Atlantic Alliance.
Third Day
The Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. Lefteris Oikonomou, visited the exhibition. Visits to all the stands of the exhibition were made by the Head of the Hellenic Army General Staff, Lt. General Angelos Houdeloudis, accompanied by his staff. Officers from all three Branches of the Armed Forces made their presence felt by visiting DEFEA 2023 exhibitors for information.
Furthermore contacts were made among the various industries with each other (B2B) in order to share information and explore possibilities for co-productions and joint development of programmes. Technology transfer mechanisms and in particular the synergies between defence industries and those of the civilian sector were the subject of an informative event organised by the Hellenic Manufacturers of Defence Materiel Association-SEKPY in the context of DEFEA 2023.
Robotic applications in firefighting efforts, as well as the effects of disasters on the environment and the economy, occupied another informative event held during the last day of the Exhibition. Finally, innovative systems for surveillance and border management were discussed at the informative event that closed the DEFEA Academy.
