The Hellenic ministry of Defense is funding a defense modernization program at a cost of some 22 billion Euros, under the multi-year Unified Mid-Term Armaments Development Program (EMPAE). Refreshed every five years, the current program covers arms procurement over a period of ten years (2006 – 2015). The largest items on the list are the procurement of three new frigates, 40 new fighter aircraft, advanced trainers, hundreds of new armoured vehicles, a spy satellite and associated intelligence facilities. Defendory International 2006 provided the arena for international arms suppliers to address these plans, although based on past experience it is unclear how much of these hyped plans will actually be implemented.
In the following pages Defense Update covers the various highlights of Defendory, related to:
- Naval Systems, icluding surface vessels, submarines and various weapon systems
- Aerospace topics, covering the new trainers and future combat fighter programs
- Land Warfare, covering armored vehicles of various types
- Air Defense systems, including both Russian and Western systems
- and coverage of various Unmanned Systems at the show
