The National Guard today showcased two new high-tech, locally developed defence systems, “THISEAS” and “Drone Eye”.
The systems were presented at the Stavros Stylianides Camp in Kornos, Larnaca, following the completion of the “ATHENA” action plan, which Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas said showed how “domestic scientific research, innovation, and technological development can be transformed into a force multiplier and a deterrent power.”
The demonstration, attended by the Minister, members of the Parliamentary Defence Committee, and Ministry of Defence (MoD) Director General Erikos Elias, marked the first public presentation of such technology in Cyprus.
THISEAS battlefield awareness system
The THISEAS project was developed over 28 months by a consortium including Cypriot companies Signal Generix and 8Bells, and the CYENS and KIOS Centres of Excellence. The project had a budget of €530,000, with €450,000 funded by the MoD.
THISEAS is an integrated system providing solutions for battlefield situation awareness, radio emission detection, target identification, and geo-location estimation to support rapid decision-making. It also includes a virtual reality combat visualisation system powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
The system continuously streams data from multiple sources—including cameras, radar, UAVs (drones), and sensors—into a central processor. AI algorithms (Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning) running on the system recognise and classify targets (such as vehicles, persons, or drones), detect unusual activity, and calculate trajectories. This allows the system to issue automatic warnings for suspicious movements, drastically reducing reaction time.
All collected and analysed information is merged into an integrated Geographical Information System (GIS), giving the commander a complete, dynamic picture of the operational environment in real-time. The THISEAS system is capable of simultaneously detecting over 2,000 targets. Crucially, the system has already been successfully tested by four armies and purchased by three different countries.
Drone eye vehicle-mounted anti-drone system
The second project, Drone Eye, is a comprehensive anti-drone system mounted on a vehicle and was entirely built in Cyprus. It was developed over 42 months by the Cypriot company Encorp, Frederick University, and the Open University of Cyprus, also receiving €450,000 in MoD funding from its €530,000 budget. A portable anti-drone weapon developed in parallel was also showcased.
Drone Eye focuses on surveillance and neutralisation technologies for small-range unmanned aerial vehicles. It uses a variety of sensors—high-resolution and thermal cameras, radio frequency (RF) detectors, and radar—to provide continuous information on the targets’ identity and movement.
AI algorithms analyse flight patterns to classify targets, recognise unusual behaviour (such as approaches to sensitive zones), and calculate probable trajectories. The system provides real-time alerts and prioritises incidents based on risk level.
The system was designed to integrate into broader security and anti-air defence systems, offering data exchange protocols with control centres and other sensor systems.
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