20.03.2021.

Procurement of new “Lazar 3” combat vehicles for Serbian Armed Forces

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Nebojša Stefanović, PhD, attended today the signing of the contract between the Ministry of Defence and the “Yugoimport-SDPR“ company to procure “Lazar 3“ 8x8 combat vehicles. According to Minister Stefanović, the procurement of domestically produced new generation equipment for our armed forces continues and this is a contract worth 3.7 billion dinars.

- What our strategic, long-term goal is, and what President Vučić has tasked us with, is to immediately equip our reconnaissance units, which see action first, with modern vehicles that will give them protection, because we want to take care of our personnel. With this contract, the number of “Lazars”, modern armoured combat vehicles, will be considerably increased in our armed forces – Stefanović said, emphasizing that purchasing new “Lazar 3” combat vehicles for the Serbian Armed Forces was a significant contribution to enhancing our armed forces’ operational capabilities.

On this occasion, Minister Stefanović visited the “Complex Combat Systems” production facilities in Velika Plana where “Lazar”, “Nora” and “Miloš” combat vehicles are produced, and was presented with key stages in the production process, work results and future production plans.

According to the Minister of Defence, SAF units will get new Miloš vehicles in a few weeks’ time.

- We are happy because we can see progress; we can see that the contractual obligations are being fulfilled and that by the end of the year we will have a larger number of "Miloš" and "Lazar" combat vehicles. I would like to thank everyone in "Yugoimport" and the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, as well as factory employees who have worked hard in the past period to develop these vehicles and start their serial production - said Minister Stefanović and announced some novelties at the upcoming "Partner" fair.

According to him, equipping the military and investing in domestic industry continues.

- We want to continue equipping our military, but we also want to develop new modern equipment to supply our units with, so that they can show everyone that we will always defend Serbia from all kinds of challenges. We are fully committed to regional stability and peace, but we will never allow anyone to threaten Serbia with military force, because Serbia will respond to it in the best possible way – Minister of Defence said.

According to him, Serbia cannot be strong without a strong military, and that is why we are investing money in its equipment, with the aim of making it a deterrent capable of protecting our homeland and all its citizens.

The Director of the Public Enterprise "Yugoimport-SDPR", Jugoslav Petković, emphasized that this was the continuation of what had been done in the previous years, and that serial production had greatly advanced.

- You had the opportunity to see some of the “Noras” that SAF units will get soon, as well as “Miloš” combat vehicles whose first batch we have already delivered, while the next one is ready to be tested in the next fifteen days, as the Minister said. You also had the opportunity to see the “Nora” that we are preparing for America, which we are proud of, since we are one of few companies that received invitation for testing, so that this howitzer could officially enter the armament of the United States of America – Mr Petković said.

According to him, the production process is well-organized in the production plant and is going in the right direction.

- If the epidemiological situation permits, we hope to show some novelties at the “Partner” fair, both in terms of wheeled vehicles and the missile program – Mr Petković announced.

The “Lazar” procurement contract was signed by Colonel Aleksandar Cakić from the Procurement and Sales Department (Material Resources Sector, Ministry of Defence) and the Associate Director of the Public Enterprise "Yugoimport-SDPR", Aleksandar Lijaković.