The Theon Group is entering a new scale, now claiming a leading role in the European defense industry after securing a €1 billion mega-contract from the German and Belgian Armed Forces. At the same time, this development acts as a catalyst for broader efforts to build a critical defense ecosystem in Greece, reinforcing the push for the rebirth and upgrade of the Greek defense industry.

“This contract places Theon in a new, clearly larger category. Our ambition is to make Theon a European prime. I want us to become one of the major names in the European defense industry. Not just good in a corner, but truly a large European defense company,” says Theon’s founder and CEO, Christian Hatziminas, speaking to newmoney.

The agreement concerns an amendment to the existing THEON contract with the intergovernmental European organization OCCAR and converts into a binding order the supply of 100,000 night-vision systems for the German Armed Forces and 4,000 for the Belgian Forces, with a total value reaching €1 billion. With this new order, the total number of contracted systems within this cooperation reaches about 200,000 units, while the Group’s backlog jumps to nearly €2.4 billion, providing strong revenue visibility until 2029.

“This year we are on track to record the highest turnover in our history, above €430–440 million. Nevertheless, not only is the backlog not decreasing, it is more than doubling compared to last year: from €900–950 million we are now at €2.35–2.4 billion. In other words, even as we deliver, the backlog continues to grow at a rapid pace,” Hatziminas notes. “We are essentially filling our factory with orders until at least 2029,” he adds.

To support its growth plan, the company has launched a major cycle of industrial investments and acquisitions that help accelerate its momentum. “We’ve started building a third factory in Greece, in Koropi. Even though we are tripling the size of the factory in Germany, and although we have acquired other companies abroad and could shift more production there, we are still investing strongly in Greece,” he says.

Alongside its investments in Greece, the Group is also expanding its industrial footprint in Germany, where part of the production for the major contract is already carried out via Hensoldt Theon NightVision (HTN). Under the new agreement, the Wetzlar facility will move in 2026 to significantly larger premises, with the number of employees tripling to support the increased production volume.

According to Hatziminas, the Group’s biggest management challenge is no longer production capacity, but securing critical components in a market where global supply chronically lags behind demand.

“Our main problem is components. That’s why we dug deep, took risks, and purchased critical components in advance,” he stresses.

Theon’s choice to “shield” its access to critical image-intensifier tubes has already been implemented through two key acquisitions and strategic moves. On one hand, the Group acquired a 9.8% stake in EXOSENS, becoming its largest strategic investor, while extending until 2030 the long-term supply agreement for tubes, with higher binding quantities and options for 2027–2028, securing access to more than 400,000 tubes over the next five years.

On the other hand, Theon acquired Harder Digital, now holding a 60% majority stake. The strategy from the outset has been that only 50% of Harder’s production is consumed internally, with the rest supplied to third-party customers, enhancing both self-sufficiency and the company’s international position in the tube-supply chain.

In this new environment, Theon’s major strategic goal is to expand into the market of platform electro-optics – a category much larger than soldier-borne systems, for which the third Koropi factory is specifically designed.

“To emphasize, the third factory is for platform electro-optics. Everything we are announcing now… we are the number one company in the world for man-portable night-vision equipment, whether mounted on the weapon or the helmet. The contract we just announced is with a very large European company to supply electro-optics for vehicles! To win it, we competed against giants. And that is because while we have a 60–70% global market share in man-portable electro-optics, in platform electro-optics – for UAVs, military vehicles, ships, etc. – we have 0%. We are just starting! And this market is even larger than the soldier-portable night-vision market,” Hatziminas says.

This expansion is already taking shape with the recent €75 million acquisition of 100% of German firm Kappa Optronics, specialized in electro-optics for ground and airborne platforms. Its 2025 revenues are expected to exceed €37 million with EBITDA around €8 million, and it has a workforce of 200 employees across Germany, the U.S., and Spain.

In parallel with its international expansion, the Group is also building in Greece a strong nucleus of defense-technology capability through its sister group, EFA Group, raising the overall added value of its Greek segment.

“We also have the EFA Group factory, already delivered and to be inaugurated in March. There you’ll find everything: electronic warfare, satellites, drones, software – the whole ecosystem – with €120 million in investments,” he says, pointing to announcements expected next week.

Rebirth

For Hatziminas, the momentum that Theon is creating abroad already acts as a lever for the rebirth of the entire Greek defense industry, and as proof that Greek companies can stand on equal terms internationally.

“It shows a path! First and foremost, that as Greeks, we can do it. Anyone who invests and leverages the ‘gold’ we have—Greek engineers—and who also has an international footprint, can succeed. Because only through sales do you evolve and become better,” he notes.

He adds that examples are multiplying, forming a new core of Greek defense groups with an export orientation. “These companies we are investing in will bring others along with them,” he says. “An ecosystem is being created. And when Greek companies begin cooperating on an equal footing, then we can truly move forward.”

Equally decisive, he stresses, is the role of the state in creating a minimally stable framework. “With certain measures the government seems ready to take – and is taking – such as the agreement with the Czechs on EAS, and provided progress is made on the HAI (Hellenic Aerospace Industry), given that a ‘fleet’ of private groups has already formed, then synergies will follow,” he says. “And that’s our goal: for example, someone could manufacture and export vehicles as a subcontractor, and our electro-optics could be mounted on them! That’s how the Greek added value in exported defense systems will increase.”

He concludes by linking Theon’s international success with Greece’s global presence: “This strengthens the brand name and the soft power of the Greek defense industry abroad. Above all, as Greeks, we achieved a once-unattainable dream with such an export agreement for high-tech products to an advanced NATO country like Germany. Greece can now say it has acquired a strong international defense industry – essentially a new industrial sector. I thank the exceptional Greek engineers and all our colleagues who made this Greek dream a reality.”

Finally, in today’s international environment, the head of Theon estimates that the defense-procurement cycle is not entering a phase of de-escalation but rather a more demanding phase focused on both Europe and the Asia-Pacific. “A mistake many make is thinking that a peace plan in Ukraine would reduce defense spending. On the contrary, it will increase, as the threat to Europe remains. We see the same now in the Far East. They also got the message that America will not help them as before, and they must dig deep into their pockets, just like the Europeans,” he notes.