Greece on Friday tested a broad range of domestically developed drones and counter-drone tools inside a full tactical exercise for the first time, part of an urgent NATO-wide push for faster battlefield innovation.

Military officers from the United States, France, Bulgaria, Armenia and Turkey watched from viewing stands as Greece, long reliant on imports, joined the global race to build and field-test its own lethal technology.

Helicopters skimmed tree lines and infantry units scrambled across a firing range through bursts of smoke and thunderous explosions.

Above them, a constellation of drones — quadcopters, fixed-wings, loitering munitions and experimental prototypes — helped coordinate the intense mock battle near the northeasten city of Alexandroupolis.

Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said the exercise marked the first large-scale tactical use of Greek-built unmanned systems, saying the country had entered a new era.

"Our country and our Armed Forces have entered the new era. Not only 'with the right foot,' as we say, but with both feet. We are moving forward with confidence and stability to continue providing the Greek people," Dendias said.

More than 30 Greek companies later displayed drones and related technologies as the country expands domestic production to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers and strengthen deterrence against regional threats.

Greek developers say rising military funding will also accelerate civilian applications.

Greece’s push mirrors a broader shift across mid-sized NATO economies since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine: Estonia, Denmark and others have invested in indigenous drone and counter-drone technology, seeing autonomy and rapid production as vital to deterrence.

For Athens, locked in a decades-old dispute with Turkey over sea boundaries, drones are part of a 25 billion euro overhaul of its armed forces after years of austerity.

AP Video by Srdjan Nedeljkovic, Production by Derek Gatopoulos