26.04.2020.

Minister Vulin: We are increasing our combat readiness

In the presence of the Minister of Defence Aleksandar Vulin and Acting Assistant Minister for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradović, PhD, members of the Mixed Artillery Brigade and the Technical Test Centre carried out a test missile firing from a modular OGANJ system with an LRSVM M18 armoured cab.

After the firing, Minister Vulin said that no matter how many responsibilities and new tasks regarding the fight against the coronavirus the Serbian Armed Forces have, their modernization and equipping never ceases and they never forget that life must go on and that they must not waste time.

- Today, the Serbian Armed Forces have shown what a modular OGANJ system can do. It is a modernized version with an armoured cab. We fired 122mm rockets today. The 40km range is something that has not been attempted so far. We have shown that we can do this and that in this way we can improve our abilities and our strength - said Minister Vulin.

He emphasized that the combat readiness of the Serbian Armed Forces should never decrease and that there is no excuse for that.

- The President of Serbia and the Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić takes care of this every day and requires us to always be able to protect our country and our people. We can do that,” said Minister Vulin.

There are very few places in Europe where a 40 kilometre-range firing can be performed, pointed out Acting Assistant Minister for Material Resources, Nenad Miloradović, PhD, speaking about the firing by the OGANJ modular self-propelled multiple rocket launcher in an extended area of the “Pasuljanske livade” training ground.

- This is a historic moment for us, because something like this has not happened in Serbia so far. It is very important to us because we can prove that we have such a capability, which is significant for the testing of the next generation of weapons and the possibility that the Serbian Armed Forces continue to practice with the new generation of weapons.

Miloradović explains that the OGANJ modular launcher is in the final testing stage, and says that G2000 rockets were fired, which have been produced by our defence industry for a long time and are a significant export product.

- The first stage of the OGANJ system modernization is already completed and it is serially produced now, and this is the second stage, which means that the modular OGANJ is a system that has undergone a major transformation getting an armoured cabin and is capable of firing all types of unguided artillery missiles that are a part of our armed forces’ armament, which are being produced and are about to be produced by our industry. It also has the ability to fire guided artillery missiles - said Miloradović.

This is not the first time the modular OGANJ system has fired a G2000 rocket, Miloradović points out, but it is the first firing in Serbia at a maximum range of about 40 kilometres, which was a good opportunity to test both electronic systems and rockets and the effects of the weapon and the missile used together.

Lieutenant Colonel Predrag Puhača of the Development and Equipping Department of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces points out that good firing results have been achieved.

- We have achieved good results. The weapon and the rocket are in the stage of development and the rocket is about to be introduced into the armament of the Serbian Armed Forces, and will be used for long range firing, about 40 kilometre-range, which is admirable compared to the previous one, which was used for 24 kilometre range maximum - says Lieutenant Colonel Puhača.

The missile firing by the modular OGANJ system was attended by the Head of the Development and Equipping Department of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, Brigadier General Milan Popović, Director of the Technical Test Centre, Colonel Slobodan Ilić, as well as the representatives of the “Jugoimport SDPR”Company.