On June 15th and 16th 2023, Naval Group gathered Hellenic industry, academic and research centers at the French Institute in Athens for the third edition of the “R&D Partners Days”.
This event focuses on R&D and R&T joint projects and aims at developing the cooperation between Naval Group and the defence Hellenic ecosystem. Naval Group’s main industrial French partners Thales and MBDA jointly participate to this event.
Since its establishment in Greece in 2008, Naval Group has developed a strong relationship with many high-skilled and innovative companies within the Hellenic defence industry, but also with research and academic partners. Alongside the frigates program, for which Naval Group has designed a robust Hellenic Industry Participation plan, the Group also seeks to support the development of the future Hellenic naval warfare capabilities through R&D projects with Hellenic companies, universities and research institutes.
For the third consecutive year, Naval Group organises the R&D Partners Days with the support and coordination of SEKPY (association of Hellenic Defence Manufacturers) and HASDIG (Hellenic Aerospace Security & Defense Industries Group) as a chance to meet with current and new partners, and discuss on-going and future projects giving opportunities to strengthening the partnerships.
Given the diversity of Naval Group's research areas, these partnerships focus on cutting edge-technologies in various fields such as unmanned vehicles (UxV), autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, energy storage and production, augmented reality, I-maintenance, software maintenance and eco-conception. This year a dedicated focus will be put on Energy.
Currently, Naval Group and its Greek partners have jointly successfully completed the European project PANDORA. This R&D cooperation is a long-term work, aiming to grow in the years to come.
For this third edition, roughly 40 Hellenic companies, academic and research centres are participating. More specifically, Naval Group will share with its Hellenic partners the presentation of the R&D project Blue ship, whose main objective is optimizing on-board energy efficiency. In addition, Naval Group’s main industrial French partners Thales and MBDA are associated to this event and will present their respective R&D cooperation plan with Hellenic partners. The GDDIA (General Directorate for Defense Investments and Armaments) will also bring its vision on innovation policy for Hellenic defence industry.
Naval Group is already a partner of three leading Hellenic universities: NTUA, the University of Patras and Forth Research centre. These partnerships have led to fruitful academic exchanges between the National Technological University of Athens and ENSTA Bretagne to develop work on composite material and with two specific projects with Patras University. This year, this partnership has been extended to the Hellenic Naval Academy, who have signed cooperation agreements with Naval Group and very productive discussions started with the DEMOKRITOS research Center.
Naval Group is a partner to its customers' maritime sovereignty. An international player in naval defence and heir to French naval know-how, Naval Group develops innovative solutions to meet the needs of navies. Present throughout the entire life cycle of the ships, the group designs, builds, integrates and maintains submarines and surface ships, as well as their systems and equipment, through to dismantling. It also provides services for shipyards and naval bases.
A high-tech company, it builds on its exceptional expertise, its unique design and production resources and its ability to set up strategic partnerships and successful transfers of technology. Attentive to the challenges of corporate social responsibility, Naval Group is a member of the United Nations Global Compact.
With operations on five continents, the group has a turnover of 4.3 billion euros and employs 16 029 people (full-time equivalents / 2022 data).
