09.11.2019.
Serbian Armed Forces continues acquisition of state-of-the-art air defence systems
At the invitation of the MBDA European group, a delegation of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, led by Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradović, PhD, attended live firing using Mistral 3 air defence system at the military firing ground in Sardinia. This is a system for the purchase of which the Republic of Serbia signed a contract this year.
According to Mr Miloradović, the delegation saw first-hand the quality of the missile system the purchase of which was contracted by Serbia, as well as the possibility of integrating it into the PASARS system, which is a product of the domestic industry.
- During the test firing at the Italian military firing ground in Sardinia, the system was connected, the missile was launched from the ATLAS RC automated system, target information was given from the LIKORN command post that also had radar and optoelectronic observation sensors attached to it. Firing at small target that simulated a combat helicopter was carried out successfully.We had the opportunity to see optoelectronic sensors acquiring target at more than 11 km, we also had the opportunity to monitor the proper missile flight hitting the target at just over 7 km. It was very important to us first of all to see first-hand the quality of the missile system we have purchased, and also to see how it is integrated into these command systems and with other sensors. This is exactly what lies ahead of us as we plan to integrate the missile into our PASARS system, which is also integrated into our command-and-control battery system based on the updated Giraffe radar.
The recent visit of French President Emanuel Macron also resulted in the signing of several agreements in the field of arms and military equipment, when the procurement the Mistral 3 air defence system was agreed, which provides a very effective low altitude missile, characterised by short reaction time, high manoeuvrability, and high resistance to the effects of modern aircraft self-protection systems.
Mistral 3 is the latest generation of MANPADs short-range air defence systems and stands out in comparison to similar systems from other manufacturers with a number of advanced characteristics featuring high manoeuvrability of the missile that allows engagement of intense manoeuvring aircraft with loads up to 9g, long-range of the missile that enables engaging aircraft at distances up to 7.5 km, high-explosive warhead allowing reliable target destruction, high resistance to passive and active electronic jamming systems using infrared matrix detector array technology, ability to operate in complex meteo conditions, day and night, using a high-sensitivity infrared camera in the sighting system, the ability to integrate into different hybrid combat systems.
The Mistral 3 short-range missile system will be delivered in two variants. In the first one it will be used as a MANPAD system, while in the second variant it will be integrated into the high-level ballistic protection and mobility artillery rocket system PASARS-16. Integration into the PASARS-16 system will provide a weapon capable of providing effective air defence to armoured and mechanised units directly from combat formation, as well as producing highly effective fire at ground-based targets.
