Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said authorities “know roughly” what a military-style sea drone found off the island of Lefkada in western Greece earlier this week contained, adding that the country “has nothing to envy” from its technology.
“You saw a drone from a foreign country that was seized outside Greek territorial waters a few days ago. Because we know what it is and what it contains, we have nothing to envy,” Dendias said at the pre-conference event of the ruling New Democracy party in Thessaloniki on Saturday.
The drone, identified as a MAGURA V3 model similar to those used by Ukrainian forces in Black Sea attacks, was found by a fisherman trapped inside a cave with its engines still running. It was towed to port before bomb disposal experts disabled three detonators, disconnected its batteries and secured what officials described as active explosives with a payload capacity approaching 300 kilograms.
The vessel has since been transferred to the Underwater Demolition Command for forensic examination.
Kathimerini reported that Greek authorities are treating the discovery as “extremely serious,” and are now trying to determine how the vessel reached the Ionian Sea and whether it was launched from a ship. The investigation remains tightly guarded.