The Serbian Army will receive Chinese FK-3 air defense systems and Russian Pantsir S1 air defense systems
The first battery of the Chinese FK-3 medium-range air defense system, built on the model of the Russian S-300, should arrive in the Serbian Armed Forces before the end of this year.
This was reported by Novosti, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the publication, the purchase of a Chinese anti-aircraft missile system will be the largest modernization of the Serbian army since the Yugoslav People's Army, and Serbia will become the first foreign user of these weapons. The deal with the Chinese to purchase the air defense system was agreed upon in 2019. During the following 2020, the contract was clarified and Serbia began paying for it.
“Simultaneously with preparations for the adoption of the new missile system into the Serbian army, a recruitment of personnel is being organized to train them to work with it,” a source in the command staff of the Serbian army told Novosti. – Some officers have already visited China and completed basic training, now it is planned to speed up the training of people to work with the “Chinese S-300”. "The personnel will be retrained for the units currently on the Neva missiles, as well as the transfer of crews for the Kub system, which will be decommissioned due to the exhaustion of missile resources."
Also, in addition to the existing Russian-made Pantsir S batteries, by the end of this year the Serbian Armed Forces will receive a modernized Pantsir S1 with a longer-range radar, better protection and armed with new missiles with a range of up to 40 kilometers. Belgrade is also interested in acquiring Russian electronic warfare stations "Krasukha" and French MANPADS "Mistral", the supply agreement for which was concluded two years ago and which are planned to be installed on Serbian-made armored vehicles.
The list of needs of the Serbian army also includes combat drones. It is known so far that Serbia has sent an order for a batch of such vehicles (the type and country of production are unknown) that will be able to carry bombs weighing 500 kilograms. Recently, preparations for the use of Chinese combat drones, which are already in service with the country’s armed forces, were completed, and the capabilities of these unmanned aerial vehicles will be demonstrated at a major exercise in Peshtera, scheduled for June 27.
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