Mr. George Troullinos, CEO of INTRACOM DEFENSE (IDE), participated as a speaker in the Webinar “NAVAL DEFENCE INNOVATION FORUM 2021”.
Mr. Troullinos argued that the procurement program of the new frigates as well as the modernization of MEKO 200HN with an eight-year implementation horizon, has a vital significance for the consolidation and restart not only of the shipyards, but of the entire domestic defense technological and industrial base. In this context, he gave examples of countries such as Canada, Australia, Finland and Turkey, which take full advantage of their domestic defense industry, on the one hand, by undertaking shipbuilding activity and, on the other hand, by securing significant domestic added value in the technology sector, such as the construction of critical systems of the ship, as their operational availability depends mainly on their operation.
Furthermore, the CEO of INTRACOM DEFENSE highlighted the fact that it is crucial for the Hellenic Ministry of National Defense to set the following requirements – already at the initial stage of the frigates procurement process, either for a competitive procedure or a transnational agreement – which should be incorporated into the General Terms and specialized in the Specific Terms, with the prerequisite for the submission of a “Complete Security of Supply Proposal” by the candidate Suppliers:
- The candidate suppliers to define the critical Technological Subsystems of the ships that are necessary for their operation, and to commit to the continuous support of the Critical Subsystems from domestic industries, specialized in the respective technological sectors.
- Detailed description (as regards to quality and quantity) of the industrial cooperation between the Main Supplier and the domestic industry (accompanied by the respective cooperation agreements).
- Commitment to provide the relevant licenses for the domestic production and maintenance of the Critical Subsystems.
- A minimum percentage of 30% of the value of the frigates armament program for domestic industrial participation and support.
The benefit that can be recovered through the participation of the domestic defense industry in the frigates procurement program, which is estimated at about €5 billion, are summarized below:
- Significant know-how transfer to the Hellenic defense industry, which guarantees the further support of the ships, a significant issue for the security of supply, information and operational autonomy of the Hellenic Armed Forces.
- Through the acquired know-how and given that the Hellenic defense industry will join the global supply chain of the frigates procurement program, the Hellenic defense industry will have the possibility of exports with direct financial benefit for our country. As a consequence, highly specialized positions will be created and the brain drain will be prevented.
- The participation of the Hellenic defense industry will save significant amounts for our country, as the total life cycle cost of the program will be reduced.
Mr. Troullinos argued that through the long-term experience gained by the Hellenic defense industries from their participation in national and international armament programs, our country today obtains extensive know-how as well as advanced industrial infrastructure. He also stated that INTRACOM DEFENSE assigns subcontracting work to other Greek industries at a rate of more than 30% of the undertaken project. In this context, INTRACOM DEFENSE in cooperation with other Greek industries can contribute substantially to both the domestic production as well as to the Follow-on-Support of the following critical frigate systems:
- The integrated communications system
- The multi-functional radar
- Sonar systems
- Missile Systems and
- Battle Management and Command Systems
In addition, he noted that a typical example of “good practice” in procurement, high availability and controlled Life Cycle Costof an armament system is the Air Force’s Patriot air defense system, for which the country spent just over $1 billion to acquire. However, significant financial, industrial and defense “returns” were achieved, indicatively:
- Extensive domestic co-production through the participation of more than 10 defense industries.
- The total of Patriot export contracts of INTRACOM DEFENSE and its partners from 2009 until today exceeds the amount of half a billion dollars.
- Follow-on-Support and upgrades, not only of the Greek but also of other countries PATRIOT systems
Finally, Mr. Troullinos briefly stated that: “Maximizing the utilization of the frigates program will lead to the revitalization of the entire Hellenic defense industry (private and state-owned), will have a significant effect onthe developments of the Navy for the upcoming half century and under certain conditions, can operate as a power multiplier not only for the fleet of frigates, but also for the other ships of the Hellenic Navy”. Concluding his speech, Mr. Troullinos wished for the specific programs to be examples of good practice regarding the development of the domestic defense industry.
