The police’s efforts to procure anti-drone systems turned into a fiasco dragging on for seven years, until finally the endeavour was dropped altogether, the Audit Office said in a report published on Tuesday.

The anti-drone systems – detection and jamming – were supposed to shield vital infrastructures across Cyprus. The task of procuring them was given to the police.

But two successive tenders – the first in 2018, the second in 2021 – both flopped, and the project was abandoned.

The auditor-general cited “poor planning, deficient assessment, inadequate technical supervision and a series of extensions without substantive progress”.

Other major flaws in the process included the lack of clear milestones binding the contractor, no ironclad provisions regarding the upkeep of the anti-drone systems following delivery, and the lack of know-how by the evaluating committee.

The first tender, launched in 2018, was scrapped in 2019 because the necessary credits were not secured. The second tender, rolled out in 2021, got cancelled in April 2025 after the contractor failed to deliver operable systems.

The report focused more on the second tender where the issues were glaring.

For example, the contracting authority did not from the outset ask for binding prices for the upkeep of the systems throughout their life cycle, leaving the police vulnerable to the whims of the successful bidder.

Another major flaw flagged was the condition inserted into the tender documents that bidders should have prior experience – specifically having delivered anti-drone systems to airports in the European Union or Britain only.

This automatically excluded companies from the United States, Canada and Israel.

Also, the technical brochures of the contractor did not match the brochures of the manufacturer/supplier.

During the selection process, other bidders had complained that the contractor lacked the technical wherewithal for the project. These complaints – which later turned out valid – were disregarded.

It also transpired that the successful bidder’s designated supplier was a company with just two to four employees. Worse, this company itself subsequently went into bankruptcy.

All these problems became apparent during the implementation stage. From 2022 to 2024, the successful bidder was granted one delivery extension after another – but never made good.

The first tests on the portable drone detection systems revealed serious flaws – such as the inability to track drones even when these were flying at an altitude of 20 metres above the detection devices.

Subsequent tests likewise failed, and finally the contract was terminated in April of this year.

In a further twist, at one point the contractor requested to change the detection system being offered – because the manufacturer of that system had gone into liquidation since September 2023.

The police agreed to the change. But, the proposal for the change of manufacturer was submitted with a delay of several months. Plus, the proposal had incomplete technical documentation. Nevertheless, the evaluation committee accepted it based on verbal assurances.

This succession of events, said the Audit Office, points to the lack of technical and market savvy when it comes to public procurement.

In the second tender, initially four companies had bid. The company with the lowest bid was disqualified for not meeting the basic criteria.

That left three companies in the running. In the end, the successful bidder was the company which had submitted the second-lowest offer – €1,656,000.