Greece has unveiled a homegrown kamikaze drone boat capable of slamming into enemy warships and detonating on impact. Th...

Greece has unveiled a homegrown kamikaze drone boat capable of slamming into enemy warships and detonating on impact. The Hellenic Navy introduced the vessel, named Pyrpolitis, on Tuesday at the Skaramangas Naval Base during the launch of a new Joint Training Centre for Unmanned and Autonomous Maritime Systems. Defense Minister Nikos Dendias attended the ceremony. The Pyrpolitis was designed, developed, and built entirely by Greek naval personnel, with no outside contractors involved. The craft is five meters long, reaches speeds above 40 knots (roughly 74 km/h), and carries an explosive payload it can deliver directly into a surface target in a one-way attack mission. Autonomous navigation systems are in the final stages of testing. Beyond its attack role, the drone boat can perform surveillance, intelligence gathering, and target reconnaissance without putting any sailors at risk. Dendias noted that unmanned systems like this one could eventually take over significant portions of the Navy's routine patrol duties, reducing the time crews spend at sea. The name is deliberate. In 1821, Greek sailors used small fireships loaded with explosives to attack the much larger warships of the Ottoman fleet, sailing close enough to attach the vessel to the enemy ship before escaping in a rowboat. The Pyrpolitis carries that same concept into the modern era, now guided by onboard navigation systems instead of a crew. Greece said production in large numbers is the ultimate goal, signaling the country intends to scale this capability across its fleet rather than treat it as a one-off prototype. #Greece #HelllenicNavy #Defense