Greece is continuing to accelerate the development of its security and cyberdefense architecture by combining public investment, international procurement and major private-sector donations. The Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation, established by the shipowner and owner of the Astican shipyard at the Port of Las Palmas, plays a prominent role in this strategy. The foundation has exclusively financed key components of the new defensive framework in the Eastern Mediterranean.
While Greece invests in national defense, in the Port of Las Palmas the Laskaridis Group’s subsidiary maintains excellent relations with Turkish capital operating in the cruise sector and in 2026 serviced the Moroccan oceanographic vessel that studied the median line between Madrid and Rabat, as well as the seabed around the Canary Islands. Fedeport, the employers’ association linked to the Laskaridis Group in the Canary Islands, supports the entry of Moroccan state capital into Boluda’s terminals in the archipelago and the promotion of business and investment in Dakhla, in Western Sahara, contrary to the position of the Gran Canaria Island Council.
The latest infrastructure contribution from the Hellenic foundation has been the full donation of the new headquarters of the Directorate of Information Technology and Cyberspace (DIPLEKYV) of the Greek Armed Forces. Located at the Papagos Military Base, this high-security technology complex took 18 months to build and was inaugurated this summer in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Defense Minister Nikos Dendias.
Turkish, Greek and Moroccan interests, and Israeli technology
At the tactical and operational level, the same foundation established by Astican’s owner donated two unmanned aircraft systems, the V-BAT. The delivery of these four vertical-takeoff-and-landing drones has enabled the Hellenic Army to immediately meet Class 2 maritime and land surveillance requirements, serving as an operational bridge before the final deployment of the multilayer network.
This tiered defense system, known as the Achilles Shield, will be completed within 35 months with the arrival of France’s Class 3 Patroller drones, the acquisition of 36 Israeli PULS rocket launchers with a range of up to 300 kilometers, and the goal of multiplying domestic production of lightweight drones tenfold. Greece is thus seeking to consolidate an autonomous, industrialized deterrence posture in the Eastern Mediterranean, with particular attention to Turkey’s longstanding claims, by combining satellite surveillance with high-precision cybersecurity and intelligence systems.
The air architecture of this multilayer network incorporates solutions from US manufacturer Shield AI, which is responsible for the vertical-takeoff V-BAT tactical drones donated by the Laskaridis Foundation, together with technology from French giant Safran Electronics & Defense, designer of the advanced, long-endurance Patroller systems used for intelligence missions. The shipborne component is completed by the Camcopter S-100 helicopter drones made by Austria’s Schiebel, designed to operate from the decks of Hellenic frigates. This multinational synergy will provide the Greek Armed Forces with unprecedented operational coverage in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The story Astican owner donates new cyberdefense system and payload-capable drones in Greece was first published on canarymaritime.com.
