On July 23, 2026, the Greek company METLEN, through its defence subsidiary M Technologies, announced an exclusive partnership with the Cyprus-based firm HOUTRIS. The companies signed an agreement to establish a joint venture in Cyprus dedicated to the manufacturing of military land vehicles, utilizing funding provided by the European Union’s SAFE programme.

The collaboration aims to combine M Technologies’ international experience—which includes work on Patriot missile systems, Leopard tanks, and FDI HN (Belharra) components—with HOUTRIS’ engineering expertise in the Cypriot market. This joint venture is intended to build large-scale production, integration, and maintenance capabilities for defence systems in Cyprus and the broader region. CEO of M Technologies, Vasilis Tsiamis, emphasized that the initiative is part of a broader push to strengthen European industrial autonomy and regional security.

This project represents a new track in Cyprus’ defence industrial strategy, occurring alongside ongoing efforts to develop a joint combat drone programme with Greece. While Cyprus has already finalized its list of projects for EU evaluation under the SAFE framework, this land vehicle initiative provides a distinct industrial expansion for the island. The partners plan to explore further collaboration in the maintenance and support of complex defence equipment as they develop their local manufacturing facilities.