Newsroom
The National Guard has begun producing small unmanned aerial systems locally, with its newly established drone laboratory now developing and manufacturing sUAV and FPV platforms.
National Guard chief Lieutenant General Emmanouil Theodorou visited the facility at the 12th Signals Battalion, where he received a briefing on the design, development and production of the systems.
Small unmanned aerial vehicles, or sUAVs, are compact drones that can either be controlled remotely or operate autonomously. FPV systems allow an operator to control a drone while receiving a live video feed through specialised goggles or a screen.
According to the General Staff of the National Guard, the visit also covered plans for further development and the operational use of the technology.
The force said the new capability forms part of its efforts to modernise its equipment, improve operational flexibility and develop technical expertise within Cyprus.
The laboratory is intended to support the National Guard's development of locally produced technology rather than relying solely on externally sourced systems.
A video released by the National Guard shows the newly established laboratory and some of the drones being produced there.
Five countries take part in Cyprus Arrow
The drone development programme comes as the National Guard continues to expand military cooperation with partner countries.
On August 17, a small-scale multinational naval exercise, named "Cyprus Arrow", was conducted in waters south of Limassol with naval units from five countries.
Cyprus was represented by the offshore patrol vessel Ioannidis of the National Guard's Naval Command. The participating foreign vessels were the Greek frigate Nikiforos Fokas, the US Navy destroyer USS Paul Ignatius, the Italian frigate Carabiniere and the German frigate Baden-Württemberg.
Senior National Guard officials attended the exercise, which was organised as part of efforts to strengthen operational cooperation with friendly states.
The participation of Greek, US, Italian and German naval vessels gave the exercise an international dimension, with the vessels operating alongside Cyprus' naval unit in the waters off Limassol.
The National Guard has also been placing greater emphasis on technological development, with the new drone facility providing a domestic base for the design and manufacture of small unmanned systems.
