Serbia became the first European country to purchase Chinese combat drones
The Serbian Ministry of Defense intends to purchase nine Pterodactyl-1 armed drones from the Chinese company Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, and then possibly 15 more.
This was reported by the AMN website, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Externally somewhat similar to the American MQ-9 Reaper, the General Atomics Pterodactyl-1 drone can carry 440 pounds with weapons and reconnaissance equipment, has a range of 2500 miles and can remain aloft for 20 hours.
“This purchase will significantly strengthen the Serbian armed forces, which will gain capabilities that they did not have in the past,” said Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin.
His assistant Nenad Miloradovic previously said that Serbia has no ideological prejudices when it comes to buying weapons. The country has purchased weapons from a variety of countries, including the Netherlands, Russia, the United States and now China.
“The Chinese have very good unmanned aircraft, probably second only to the United States. They have obviously copied some American systems, but Chinese drones are very effective and very cheap,” said Belgrade-based military analyst Miroslav Lazansky.
While this is the first European purchase of Chinese military drones, the country's civilian drones already dominate the market in many European countries, raising alarm among US intelligence officials. The US Department of the Interior has fought the use of Chinese drones, claiming they are "substandard". Government agencies, including the Pentagon, have moved to ban their use entirely.
“American geospatial information is flowing into Chinese data centers at an unprecedented level. It literally gives a Chinese company a top-down view of our country,” said Harry Wingo, a professor at the Pentagon's National Defense University.
In May this year, the US Commerce Department blacklisted Huawei, the world's largest internet equipment maker and second-largest mobile phone maker, along with 70 other Chinese firms on the grounds that they posed a "national security threat".
The UK's Telegraph believes the drone deal came about "as China has increased economic and political engagement with Serbia as part of its One Belt campaign. One Path, with $1 trillion in infrastructure investment to strengthen global influence."
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