Greece’s EFA Group Develops AI Command Systems to Connect Soldiers and Drones Across the Battlefield.

Greece’s EFA Group is developing an artificial intelligence-enabled command-and-control ecosystem intended to connect soldiers, sensors, and vehicles within a shared operational picture. At AUSA 2026 in Washington, D.C., the group highlighted how deployable communications and local computing could support this approach, linking its tactical software with the infrastructure needed to exchange and process mission data.

EFA Group Business Development Director Thanos Ioannidis discusses AI-enabled command systems and private 5G connectivity during an Army Recognition interview at AUSA 2026 in Washington, D.C.

The central proposition combines command software, connectivity and computing rather than treating them as separate acquisitions. EFA Group describes a modular, open architecture through which different assets can contribute to a common data environment. Its intended scope extends across air, land, naval and space operations, with artificial intelligence supporting situational awareness, decision-making and the interpretation of incoming information.

Speaking to Army Recognition during AUSA 2026, held from October 12 to 14, Thanos Ioannidis, EFA Group’s Business Development Director, outlined this approach at the Hellenic Pavilion. He described the exhibition as an opportunity to promote cooperation between Greece and the United States, while presenting the group’s next-generation command-and-control, or C2, ecosystem and its private 5G-in-a-box and edge cloud hardware.

The shared data layer is the organizing principle of the proposed architecture. Rather than leaving information within separate soldier, sensor or vehicle applications, the objective is to make it available across connected assets. An open, modular design is intended to accommodate different components as mission requirements change. The interview describes an integration approach, without identifying a specific American procurement program or a customer-selected configuration.

More AUSA 2026 News from Army Recognition

Ioannidis placed artificial intelligence within this information chain, identifying decision support, situational awareness and automated operational insights as its intended functions. That framing matters because the value of connecting more sensors depends on how their information reaches operators. For a command team, the relevant benefit would be a more usable picture of activities across connected assets, helping personnel interpret incoming data while retaining responsibility for decisions.

The group’s mission systems cluster also covers NATO and non-NATO tactical data links, Ioannidis explained. This extends the integration challenge beyond connecting devices: information must be exchanged between systems using different interfaces. The interview positions interoperability as a core part of the offering alongside the C2 software itself.

The communications hardware addresses another part of the same requirement. Private 5G provides a locally managed communications network, while edge cloud equipment places computing resources closer to the personnel and systems using them. Ioannidis said the hardware integrates with EFA Group’s tactical software to provide rapidly deployable communications and data-sharing infrastructure for combat cloud environments. In this arrangement, connectivity carries mission information, and nearby computing supports the applications that use it.

This direction builds on an industrial relationship announced before AUSA. SCYTALYS reported on May 8, 2025, that EFA Group was investing approximately €3 million in Acromove, a California-headquartered company with research, development, and manufacturing activities in Athens. The stated objective was to combine deployable private 5G and edge cloud systems with SCYTALYS tactical software. The investment provides concrete industrial context for the combination of hardware and software described in the interview.

A separate agreement at AUSA illustrates a possible application of this integration strategy. EFA Group and MyDefence signed a memorandum of understanding focused initially on connecting wearable counter-drone sensors and effectors with SCYTALYS’ MIMS Ranger mission management system. Their stated aim is to bring drone-threat information into the wider tactical picture used by dismounted personnel and special operations forces. The agreement concerns planned integration, giving the broader C2 discussion a defined use case.

For a dismounted unit, incorporating a counter-drone alert into its mission application could help relate the warning to the unit’s location and current task. That is the practical connection between sensor integration and command support: information becomes relevant to the mission being conducted. The MyDefence cooperation illustrates why EFA Group is pursuing common information management alongside individual sensors, with the intended result depending on the interfaces and configuration ultimately integrated.

Ioannidis also described four business clusters covering unmanned systems; mission systems, simulation and training; integrated services; and sensors and targeting. Their combined scope includes drones, unmanned surface and ground vehicles, tactical data links, cybersecurity, counter-drone equipment and space-related solutions. At Washington, the group’s industrial objective was to expand existing relationships with American defense and technology companies. Acromove’s U.S. headquarters and Greek engineering and manufacturing activities already provide one example of that transatlantic model, connecting communications hardware with tactical software developed within EFA Group’s wider portfolio.

Explore More Defense News

• Land Defense News
• Naval Defense News
• Defense Aerospace News