Greece, Israel utilizing innovation in defense cooperation

A model of cooperation between Greece and Israel in the field of research and development in the defense industry, based on financial instruments and innovation structures already in place on both sides, was discussed on Monday in Tel Aviv by the two countries’ defense ministers, Nikos Dendias and Yoav Gallant. 

Athens is considering funding from tools that the Development Ministry has already had at its disposal over the last decade and which relate to research and innovation.

Greece also is looking at the Demokritos National Center for Scientific Research (NCRS) to spearhead the innovation side of things.

What’s more, Greece could also harness the possibilities offered by DIANA, the North Atlantic Alliance’s Defense Innovation Accelerator, as it has come to be called, for the development of advanced dual-use technologies. The involvement of NATO’s innovation tools, however, will not follow until later and only after the initial phase produces results.

On the Israeli side, financial instruments are already in place, with SIBAT, the Ministry of Defense’s Directorate for International Defense Cooperation in Tel Aviv, bearing the majority of the load. SIBAT has substantial international expertise because Israel’s defense industries are largely export-oriented and not limited to the demands of the Israel Defense Forces. 

Of course, the targeting in Greece is far broader and reflects much more substantial needs.

In practice, Dendias’ initiative aims to transform Greece into a country that will not be a mere consumer of ready-made armaments, but will be able to develop its own systems in collaboration, in this case, with a seasoned defense industry such as the Israeli one, which, however, lacks the size of its American or French counterparts.

In any case, before Greece can get there, huge steps have to be taken. For time being the tool of development programs which the Defense Ministry has at its disposal is essentially dormant, as either the proposals submitted cannot be practically implemented or the military bureaucracy cannot process them due to the labyrinthine legislation.