30.12.2019.
Minister Vulin: The Serbian Armed Forces are ready for the challenges due to the intelligence and knowledge they possess
- Next year will show the results of the 2019 year’s work, which was a year of intense equipping, arming and modernizing everything that has been inherited from previous times and saved from the numerous ones who kept destroying the Serbian Armed Forces. Next year, we will come forward with many of the new assets – modernized, upgraded, capable of responding to the challenges that are also posed in our environment – said Minister of Defense Aleksandar Vulin, who was present at a demonstration of a modernized BVP M-80A infantry fighting vehicle and the experimental firing from new weapons that the combat vehicle is equipped with, at the “Nikinci” Center for Weapons and Military Equipment Testing.
Some countries rely on donations. Some rely on what someone will give them or even what they will borrow and how big a loan they will take to buy a modern asset. We are able, using our existing resources, our engineers, our own investment, to create new assets out of the existing ones that can fully match what the others either buy or receive from donations – said Minister Vulin, adding that the Serbian Armed Forces will always be able to precede others and ready to respond to any challenge, as long as they have engineers like this and use the knowledge and intelligence they possess.According to Acting Assistant Minister for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradović, BVP M-80A infantry fighting vehicle is one of the most important, if not the most important combat platform of the Land Forces and its modernization is one of the priorities of the Military Technical Institute’s development along with the Serbian Defense Industry.
- One of the basic requirements for modernization is to significantly increase the level of ballistic protection of this device and to increase the firepower – Miloradović explains, adding that in order to increase the ballistic protection of the armored body, a complete reorganization of the interior space and elements for the accommodation of the crew of the vehicle was carried out and to compensate for the increase in the vehicle mass, the engine power was increased.
Miloradović emphasized that the dome on the vehicle is a brand new structure, with significantly higher levels of ballistic protection, more powerful weapons, 30 mm cannon, 30 mm automatic missile launcher, 2T5 radio guided missile family and wire guided modernized 2F and 2T Malyutka. He adds that the dome is equipped with a brand new optoelectronic system with a long range thermal imaging camera.Colonel Zvonko Marić of the Planning and Development Department of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces points out three main reasons why the Serbian Armed Forces submitted a request for modernization of the BVP M-80A infantry fighting vehicle to the Military Technical Institute.
- The first reason is because there is a respectable number of such assets with the Land Forces and the Land Forces have high hopes for these assets in the future. The second task is to significantly improve the combat capabilities of this vehicle, thus widening the technological gap between the generational armaments, and we are witnessing that the surrounding countries are also arming themselves with or modernizing such or similar assets, which would be the third reason why all this is happening – says Colonel Marić.
Upon completion of the demonstration of the modernized infantry fighting vehicle and the experimental firing of the 30 mm cannon from the new turret the vehicle is equipped with, the “Eagle” aircraft flights, which is in the modernization phase too, were also performed.Today’s visit to the “Nikinci” training grounds was also attended by Chief of Planning and Development Department of the General Staff, Brigadier General Milan Popović, Director of the Technical Experimental Center, Colonel Slobodan Ilić and Director of the Military Technical Institute, Colonel Bojan Pavković.
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