By the end of the 1980s, Hungary was one of the key players, within the Warsaw Pact, in the microwave, electronics, electro-optics and digital signal processing technologies, as they applied to the field of defense. The political and economic changes and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact have brought a regression in defense related industries of former socialist countries. Hungary was no exception. A large number of outstanding Hungarian engineers and specialists have lost their jobs. A significant number of these experts left Hungary or found jobs in dissimilar fields. The company founder, Swedish-Hungarian citizen Peter Wilhelm, having his background acquired with the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and with the Swedish telecom company LM Ericsson in Stockholm united some of the best minds of the Hungarian defense industry under the Pro Patria banner. Pro Patria Electronics (PPE) was established as a successor of former defense-related companies, with a profile in the fields of electronics and precision mechanics.
At the turn of the millenium the Pro Patria team started to develop its unique frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) man-portable Ground Surveillance Radar (GSR) system - named ‘Beagle’.