17.01.2025.

Improved howitzers for more effective fire support on operations

As the Serbian Armed Forces’ Army and Air Force are being equipped and modernized, intensive training on modern combat systems is being conducted in training areas and practice grounds.

Training, which is one of the Serbian Armed Forces’ principal tasks, is being conducted in all the units equipped with newly adopted and modernized assets, including the 23rd Self-Propelled Howitzer Artillery Battalion armed with the improved 122 mm 2S1 M21 self-propelled howitzer.

In this way, professional service members develop a high degree of proficiency in the combat use of the howitzer, whose firepower, rate and accuracy of fire, and the capability to simultaneously hit a target with multiple projectiles have significantly increased after an advanced fire control system has been installed in them.

Sergeant Major Mladen Miletić, the Command Sergeant Major of the 23rd Self-Propelled Howitzer Artillery Battalion, says that the training involves modernized systems with a significantly reduced time between target recognition and engagement.

“The improved KOT1 V2 command post armoured vehicle receives orders from the observation post, processes them and, in a split second, forwards them to the self-propelled howitzer, which, in a short time, computes firing data and is ready for all fire missions,” says SM Miletić, adding that the personnel carrier receives orders via a modern computing system.

The command post armoured vehicle’s firing data computer, Corporal Milorad Bačević, says that his duty is very complex and challenging, because he is responsible for computing and preparing initial firing data, which he then sends to the units’ firing positions. As for his experience, he says that he has participated in a number of live fire artillery drills, and adds that, thanks to hard work and commitment, he was sent on a career development course, where he earned his first NCO rank.

Corporal Andrija Gačić is a crewmember of a 122 mm self-propelled howitzer in charge of preparing the ammunition and loading the howitzer before a fire mission.

— My role is very demanding, and the job, which I really like, is very challenging, as is the military profession itself. I would like to take this opportunity to invite all interested young men and women to apply for admission to the tank, artillery and mechanized units of the Serbian Armed Forces until February 15, 2025, to join us and experience all the challenges and advantages of this honourable calling — says Corporal Gačić.

The competition for the admission of new recruits to the tank, mechanized and artillery units of the Serbian Armed Forces is an opportunity for young people to obtain a secure job in the military, as well as early retirement benefits, military health insurance for themselves and their family members and opportunities for continuous professional development and career advancement.