The Hellenic Arms Industry ( el, Ελληνική Βιομηχανία Όπλων, links=no, ''Elliniki Viomichania Oplon'', abbreviated EBO) has been the main arms manufacturer of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

.EBO
/ref> Its creation is linked to a desire of Greek governments for "complete self-sufficiency" of Greece in the areas of personal and other weapons (in contrast to past experience, when local manufacturers could only partially cover the needs of the Armed Forces).

History

A proposal in 1975 by a big Greek chemical company, Chropei of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saro ...

, for the adoption of its own-developed rifles and submachine guns, was rejected after testing proved that its weapons were not up to desired standards. Similarly, the Greek state did not support

Pyrkal Founded in 1874, Pyrkal (Greek: Πυρκάλ) is one of the oldest defense industries in Greece and the main producer of ammunition and explosives in the country. Throughout its history, it has been one of the largest Greek companies, in fact, a ...

, which was already producing the

FN FAL The FAL (a French acronym for (English: "Light Automatic Rifle")), is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal (simply known as FN). During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of th ...

rifle under license. Subsequently, EBO was founded by the state in

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' ( el, Αίγιο, Aígio, ; la, Aegium), is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipal ...

in 1976, after an agreement to initially produce under licence

Heckler & Koch Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK; ) is a German defense manufacturing company that manufactures handguns, rifles, submachine guns, and grenade launchers. The company is located in Oberndorf am Neckar in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also ...

models adopted by the Greek Army, but with the intent to also design arms of its own. During its foundation ceremony, a Greek pistol of the 1820s (used in the

Greek Revolution The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. The Greeks were later assisted b ...

) was placed on the foundation stone to represent the continuity of Greece's arms-making craft. Since that time, the company has grown by significantly acquiring other companies, and has produced in its several factories hundreds of thousands of rifles (military and civilian) and machine guns, as well as pistols, mortars, ammunition and explosives, rocket launchers, land mines, grenades, anti-aircraft weapons, various types of bombs, cannons, night vision equipment, aircraft metal parts, as well as specialized machinery, tools, uniforms, body armor vests and reinforced composite/plastics. Many of the above are of EBO's own development (and have included the founder and designers Athan Calligeris, Ph.D., Anastasios Georgiou Artemis 30 Anti-Aircraft System and the

Aris IV ARIS IV (''Anti-tank Rocket Infantry System'', also referred to as ''Aris'') was a portable one-shot 113 mm anti-tank Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Sinc ...

Anti-Tank Rocket) Fairfox 2000 rifle. The company has also been a major and well-known exporter of weapons. However, its financial state has been shaky almost since its early steps. In 2004, it merged with Pyrkal, forming EAS, in an effort of the Greek state to better control and regulate this sector of the nation's defence industry.

Products

* Kefeus rifle *Fairfox 2000 rifle *

E44-E 81 mm Mortar The E44-E is an 81 mm infantry mortar produced by EBO, and now EAS (Hellenic Arms Industry) for the Hellenic Army, to provide efficient and accurate indirect firepower at the company and battalion level. See also * Hellenic Army * Hellenic Arms I ...

References

Additional references

*''Jane's Infantry Weapons'' (e.g. 2001-2002 ed.)
L.S. Skartsis, "Greek Vehicle & Machine Manufacturers 1800 to present: A Pictorial History", Marathon (2012)
(eBook)

External links

EAS - Information about EBO

EBO (in Greek)EAS (in Greek)
{{Greek Military Firearm manufacturers of Greece Defence companies of Greece Manufacturing companies based in Athens Greek brands