28.11.2020.

President Vučić: I am grateful to everyone who invests heavily in our armed forces and I believe that through additional investments we will further strengthen our armed forces

The President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces Aleksandar Vučić, accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, the Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Milan Mojsilović and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko attended the presentation of new T-72MS tanks, donated by the Russian Federation, which will be used to equip the Army units.

After the presentation of the tanks and materiel, President Vučić expressed his gratitude to the Russian Federation and President Putin for helping Serbia with this donation.

- Today you had the opportunity to see 11 new T-72MS tanks. Our tankers are satisfied, which you could hear from them. These tanks also have stronger ballistic protection, explosive-reactive armour, better steering and navigation. Everything is incomparably easier for them and I believe that this will significantly contribute to greater combat readiness, interoperability and competence of our forces - President Vučić emphasized, adding that this is a significant step forward for our armed forces, together with the previously obtained 10 BRDM-2MS armoured reconnaissance vehicles.

According to President Vučić, we expect the delivery of additional BRDM armoured reconnaissance vehicles and tanks, as well as additional strengthening of our armed forces, which will contribute to "further strengthening our idea of neutrality, which has become part of our defence and security strategy and part of our political beliefs, because we believe that it is best to protect our own sky, land and rivers and that our strength is always a significant protective factor."

- We have really done a lot and changed a lot in the last few years. I expect a lot from Minister Stefanović in the coming period. I expect this because there is still an outflow of personnel due to lower salaries than in the commercial and other sectors. We will try to grant an extraordinary salary increase, especially to soldiers, i.e. lance corporals, corporals and NCOs, to find a way to strengthen their desire and motivation to stay in the armed forces - said President Vučić, adding that attention will also be paid to solving housing issues under the most favourable conditions.

The President of the Republic emphasized that he was grateful to the military who were trying and struggling to preserve the reputation of the Serbian Armed Forces and who had always stayed and persevered in the defence of their homeland in difficult circumstances.

- We expect that, in addition to the five percent increase in salaries for all public sector employees, we will provide higher incomes for soldiers, as early as 2021- President Vučić emphasized, expressing hope that they would succeed in doing so despite the fight against the coronavirus and difficult economic situation around the world.

Speaking about the new tanks, President Vučić pointed out that they were incomparably better than our old tanks and that they made a big difference in the field. He also noted that a lot had been done to procure equipment, shoes and uniforms for soldiers, as well as to arm our armed forces - from "MiG 29" fighter jets, to "Eagles", “Super Seagulls”, to new Mi-35 helicopters and, for the first time, heavily armed Mi-17 and H-145 helicopters. He also announced that the procurement of anti-tank weapons and optoelectronic devices for interfering with enemy action was expected, and noted that armed drones capable of performing offensive actions, had been introduced into the armed forces for the first time.

President Vučić thanked all the soldiers and people who invested heavily in our armed forces, as well as Russian friends for the help they provided us with, which was reflected in donations to our armed forces and the opportunity to buy weapons from them at affordable prices, which was all the result of talks he had had with the President of the Russian Federation Putin.

Responding to reporters’ questions, President Vučić said that the armed forces were the pride of Serbia and that the machines obtained from our Russian friends and President Putin were extraordinary. He also pointed out that he was personally proud of the Serbian Armed Forces, and called on Minister Nebojša Stefanović, Chief of the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces General Milan Mojsilović and Army Commander Lieutenant General Milosav Simović to continue working hard and fighting for the progress of our armed forces.

President Vučić and Minister Stefanović were presented with T-72MS model tanks as a sign of gratitude for their personal contribution to equipping the Army with these tanks, and for their commitment and determination to make the Army modern and powerful.

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation, Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko, said that he was satisfied with the fact that the results of cooperation between the two countries were visible and that the plans of the Presidents of Serbia and Russia were being implemented, in this case plans related to equipping the Serbian Armed Forces and strengthening Serbia's defence capabilities.

- Neutral status is most appreciated when a country can protect itself. This is not the end of our cooperation, but the beginning of a new phase of cooperation in the military and military-technical field. Russia will gladly continue to deliver armoured vehicles and other weapons, so that Serbia can strengthen its sovereignty, neutral status and independence, which we respect - said Ambassador Botsan-Kharchenko and added that the development of military-technical cooperation between Serbia and the Russian Federation was important because of the possibility of developing Serbian industry, economy and military-technical production.

Lieutenant Colonel Goran Jovanović from the General Staff’s Development and Equipping Department (J-5) pointed out that the Russian T-72MS tank was currently the best in the Balkans and beyond, adding that the tank had undergone complex modernization and that all its features, manoeuvrability, armour protection and firepower had been significantly improved compared to M-84 tanks, which were in operational use in our armed forces.

- By fitting it with an 840 horsepower engine, its mobility has been increased. Our M-84 tank and the basic version of the T-72 tank are fitted with 780 horsepower engines. It has also been fitted with an automatic transmission that allows the driver to drive it more easily, and depending on the type of terrain, the driver can choose whether to change gears manually or automatically - says Lieutenant Colonel Jovanović, adding that the armour protection that has been added to the T-72MS tank, successfully protects the tank crew from various types of projectiles.

According to him, the main upgrade is the addition of optoelectronic devices, because optoelectronic aiming devices that the tank is fitted with enable the commander and the gunner to observe the enemy better and at a greater distance, and thus react faster and hit them sooner.

- The commander operates a panoramic sight that provides him with a 360-degree field of view around the tank, independently of the gunner, and thanks to that he can successfully spot the target at distances of more than six kilometres. The gunner can also successfully fire at distances greater than six kilometres, depending on the type of projectile he uses - concluded Lieutenant Colonel Jovanović.

In the “Mija Stanimirović" barracks, guests could see tank and armoured reconnaissance companies on the march with T-72MS tanks and BRDM-2MS vehicles, 155 mm NORA-B52 MS self-propelled howitzer adopting a battle formation, as well as part of optoelectronic devices used by the Serbian Armed Forces’ reconnaissance units.

After the activities, the President of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Serbian Armed Forces, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Minister of Defence Stefanović together had lunch with members of the military consisting of famous "military beans".